


A Fifth Descendant

by LadyArtemis13



Series: Hayden, son of Hades [1]
Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Follows the First Movie, Friendship, Implied/Referenced Underage Drinking, M/M, Male-Female Friendship, Not Descendants 3 Compliant, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Platonic Male/Male Relationships, United States of Auradon (Disney) Is Not Perfect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-17
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2020-09-09 08:56:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 32,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20288854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyArtemis13/pseuds/LadyArtemis13
Summary: When Ben invited residents of the Isle to Auradon, he actually sent five invitations. Hayden, the son of Hades, joins the VKs in the land of goodness and hypocrisy. With a presence that tends to unsettle the living, a penchant for nearly brutal honesty, and a, quite frankly, reasonable grudge against the Olympians, how will one boy change this story?Cross-posted on Wattpad under the same title and username. Check it out over there if you want to see Hayden's face-claim and his outfits.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so, a few things to know before you read this story:  
1\. This is not Descendants 3 compliant. This means that Hades is not Mal's father. In this little universe, Hades has one kid and that's Hayden.  
2\. Yes, Persephone is Hades' wife and Hayden's mother. No, Hades did not kidnap her. I'm going with the version where Persephone willingly went to the Underworld. She willingly and knowingly ate the pomegranate.  
3\. That being said, much like Disney, I'm gonna be softening any Greek myths I reference in this story. Also, while Hades is technically a villain and the whole 'Hercules' movie did happen, Hades has chilled out since then. Let's just say that since getting with Persephone, Hades has become closer to the one from the myths. AKA He just does his thing in the Underworld and is actually way less problematic than the other gods.  
4\. Still, Hades is always ready to make a deal and he's still mad at the Olympians. Now, however, that anger mainly stems from them separating him from his child for most of the year. Same goes for Persephone. She is not happy with the Olympians.  
5\. Just an extra note, the gods in this story look a little more human than in 'Hercules'. For example, Hades isn't gray-skinned, he's just really pale. Also, when his hair snuffs out, it just turns into regular bright blue hair. Stuff like that.

Hayden makes his way through the run-down streets of the Isle of the Lost, doing his best to remain in the shadows at all times. This isn’t particularly hard to do as the magical barrier surrounding the Isle, along with the general smog hanging in the air, blocks most of the sun’s light.

His path is made even easier by the fact that the other people on the streets tend to instinctively move out of his way, avoiding all possibilities of physical contact. As the son of Hades himself, Hayden tends to unnerve the living. He’s asked his <strike>friends</strike> allies before what exactly is so off-putting about him and received multiple answers. 

Evie said it was his tendency to talk casually about death, souls, the Underworld, etc.

Jay said it was the way he seems to almost glide rather than walk, never making a sound even in his heavy boots.

Carlos said it was the way he tends to blend into the shadows as if they are a part of him.

Mal said it was his golden eyes and the way they seem to almost glow even on the magic-free Isle.

Uma said it was the ever-present knowledge that he is the son of the devil himself.

Gil said it was because everybody knows he never really chooses a side, content to remain a neutral party.

Harry said it was the way he can look at a person as if seeing their soul itself, like he knows exactly which way their final judgement will fall. Of course, he followed this statement with a wink and ‘permission’ to read his soul anytime.

Hayden smirks at the thought of the (probably) insane pirate as _Ursula’s Fish and Chips_ comes into view. He reaches the door just as an older, scruffy looking pirate exits. The pirate, likely a member of Hook Senior’s crew, freezes as soon as he sees Hayden. The eye that is not covered by a patch widens as it meets the bright golden eyes of the pale boy standing in front of him. Hayden cocks one eyebrow and that’s all it takes as the pirate nearly trips over himself to scramble out of his way.

With a chuckle, Hayden pushes the crooked door open and walks into the shop. The shop’s occupants, mainly Uma’s crew, all seem to pause as they see him; however, used to him hanging around, they don’t take long to return to their activities. Hayden makes his way to the front counter where Uma stands talking to Gil and Harry, clearly not working. 

Harry’s blue eyes seem to brighten even more as Hayden joins them. “Well, if it isn’ me favorite god,” he drawls, accent thick as ever.

Hayden rolls his eyes. “Not technically a god, Harry,” he reminds him yet again.

“Aye,” Harry agrees, pointing at him with his silver hook, “but yeh should be.”

“Right,” Gil says obliviously as he grabs a piece of fish off the tray in front of him. “You should be but you’re not because the Olympians decided it would be too dangerous to have another death god, so they put you here. Well, except-“ he’s cut off as Uma calls his name.

“Gil!” She shoots him a pointed look. “I’m gonna need you to stop talking,” she continues, sharing an eyeroll with Hayden. They both ignore it as Harry reaches over to flick the blond on the forehead and the two of them begin to squabble.

“What are you here for?” she asks him.

Hayden sighs and runs a hand through his curly black hair. “I’m just here to tell you that I’m not gonna be around for a little while. As in, I won’t be on the island.” At this announcement, Harry and Gil abruptly stop their arguing while Uma places her palms flat on the counter and leans forward, clearly intrigued.

“Wha' do yeh mean yeh won’ be on the island?” Harry asks. “It’s September. It’s also Sunday.”

It’s a valid question. See, Hayden is the only resident of the Isle of the Lost that can actually leave the Isle. He spends three days a week, Tuesday through Thursday, in the Underworld, learning about his godly nature under his father’s guidance. Of course, that’s only during spring and summer because gods forbid (literally) he be allowed to see his own mother. His fall and winter months are spent well and truly trapped on the Isle.

Hayden just sighs again. “You know the walking throw rug’s kid? Prince Ben?” he asks. They all nod. “Seems that baby’s first proclamation is to bring some of the villains’ kids over to Auradon.”

“An’ yer one of ‘em?” Harry asks.

“I am,” Hayden says. “Along with Mal, Jay, Evie, and Carlos,” he finishes, looking directly at Uma. Predictably, her hands immediately clench into tight fists as she hears Mal’s name. She accepts that Hayden is <strike>friends</strike> allies with Mal and the others if only because she knows that Hayden doesn’t really choose sides. He prefers to remain as neutral as possible.

Except, of course, where the Olympians are concerned. Not that Hayden would call himself bitter or anything. Others might, but not him.

“Of course, _she’s_ going,” Uma says through gritted teeth. She takes a deep breath, seemingly getting herself back under control. “When are you leaving?” she asks calmly.

“Maleficent should be telling them the deal sometime in the next few minutes. I’ll meet up with them at Bargain Castle and then we’re off,” Hayden answers.

Gil’s brow furrows in confusion, not exactly an unusual look for him. “Wait, if she hasn’t even told them yet, then how do you know about it?”

“My father talked to the fates and told me before I left the Underworld,” he says casually. “He’s sure that Maleficent has some kind of plan in mind to bring down the barrier from the other side, so…” he trails off. They all nod in understanding, even Gil.

“If there’s a chance we can all get off this garbage dump then you’d better get to it,” Uma says as she turns to head back into the kitchen, which is her own form of a goodbye, he knows.

Gil waves as he goes back to eating. “Bye, Hayden!”

Harry just looks at him for a moment before hopping over the counter to walk with him to the door. “Righ',” the pirate says. “I guess yeh bes' be goin’ then. Wouldn’ wanna miss the big announcement,” he says sarcastically.

“Eh,” Hayden shrugs. “I’ve got time to get over there. I mean, they’ve got to finish their song before she can tell them,” he points out.

Harry looks puzzled. “Why do we always end up singin’?” he asks.

“I haven’t figured it out yet,” Hayden tells him as they walk through the doors and stand just outside of the shop.

They look at each other for a long moment. “Yer da’s really sure ‘bout this?”

“Things are gonna get better for all of us, Harry,” Hayden says seriously. A slow smirk crawls across his full lips as he holds out one ring adorned hand. “We could shake on it if it’ll make you feel better,” he says.

Harry gives him his usual grin, just a touch too wide like always. “Now, godling, I may be a wee bit mad but I’m no fool,” he drawls, shaking his hook in his direction. “I know better than to go makin’ a deal wit' yeh.”

Hayden just laughs as he turns and starts off in the direction of Bargain Castle, seemingly disappearing into the shadows. Harry’s grin softens a little as he shakes his head and turns back into Ursula’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you thought and anything you might like to see/read!


	2. Chapter 2

Hayden arrives just in time to catch the end of their little ‘Rotten to the Core’ song. He glides silently closer just as Mal snatches a lollipop from a passing baby. She holds it up in triumph only for the other citizens to scatter. Mal turns to face the reason, already knowing exactly who it is.

“Hi, Mom,” she greets. Hayden slinks up beside the group, still in the shadows, as Maleficent shoves two of her minions out of the way and gives her daughter a look.

“Stealing candy, Mal?” she asks her. “I’m so disappointed.”

“It was from a baby,” Mal tells her, holding the candy out with a smirk. Maleficent gives an evilly delighted little gasp and takes it.

“That’s my nasty little girl,” she says as the two of them share an evil grin. Maleficent then proceeds to spit on the lollipop and stick it under her arm for a few seconds. She pays no mind to Mal’s disappointed look as she hands it off to one of her minions. “Give it back to the dreadful creature,” she orders him.

“Mom,” Mal starts to say.

“It’s the deets, Mal, that make the difference between mean and truly evil,” Maleficent tells her as she waves off the mother of the poor, armpit-candy eating baby. “When I was your age, I was cursing entire kingdoms,” she says, giving Mal a very fake smile when she notices that she said the last part with her.

“You,” Maleficent says in a falsely amused tone. “Walk with me,” she demands flatly. She leads Mal a few steps away, as if it would make any difference in them hearing their conversation or not.

“See, I’m just- just trying to teach you the thing that really counts… how to be me,” she gestures as she says it like she’s writing a book.

“I know that,” Mal says, “and I’ll do better.” Jay, Carlos, and Evie all exchange looks. They know that Mal wants nothing more than to prove herself to her mother. They also know that Maleficent makes that nearly impossible. They all jump a little as Maleficent suddenly throws her arms up and twirls away from her daughter.

“Oh, there’s news! I buried the lead,” she says with a little cackle. “You five,” she says as she points at them, “have been chosen to go to a different school, in Auradon,” she finishes grandly. Mal stares at her mother in disbelief as she hears her three friends, no, _allies_, try to make a run for it. She whirls back around as they’re stopped.

“What?” she asks incredulously, before pausing. “Wait, five of us?” She turns back to count and definitely doesn’t jump with the rest of them when Hayden materializes from the shadows.

“Jeeze, man,” Jay tells him with a smirk. “Wear a bell or something.” Hayden just grins back at him. Mal turns back to her mother.

“I’m not going to some boarding school filled to the brim with prissy pink princesses,” she argues. Hayden raises an amused eyebrow as Evie walks up beside Mal, her excitement obvious.

“And perfect princes!” she adds. Mal throws her hands up and gives the blue-haired girl a ‘really?’ look. “Ugh,” Evie says unconvincingly as she looks down.

“Yeah, and I don’t do uniforms, unless it’s leather,” Jay smirks. “You feel me?” he asks as he holds his hand out for a high-five that Carlos completely ignores. Hayden gives a short but still slightly hair-raising cackle at the rejection while Jay just gives him an annoyed look.

“Shut up,” he mutters with no real heat.

Carlos walks cautiously up behind Mal. “I read somewhere that they allow dogs in Auradon. Mom says they’re rabid pack animals who eat boys who don’t behave,” he says. Jay and Hayden exchange a look. Hayden gestures with one hand for Jay to take the honors so the long-haired boy sneaks up behind Carlos and imitates a dog’s deep bark.

Carlos jerks in fear, quickly realizing it was only Jay and hitting him on the shoulder. Hayden and Evie just exchange grins while Mal ignores their antics and turns back to Maleficent.

“Yeah, Mom, we’re not going,” Mal asserts.

“Oh, you’re thinking small, pumpkin,” Maleficent tells her. “It’s all about world domination!” she finishes dramatically, throwing one arm up. “Knuckleheads!” she commands her not-so-little minions.

Maleficent turns to walk off as four of the five kids exchange disgruntled looks. Hayden knows there’s no point in protesting. His father already told him to just go to Auradon and go along with whatever little plot Maleficent has cooked up.

“Mal,” Maleficent sings looking over her shoulder, silently telling her to follow. The rest of them slowly make their way to Bargain Castle.

Hayden sits on a shadowed tabletop, his boots planted in the chair in front of him, as the other four stand before Maleficent’s ‘throne’. Hayden rolls his eyes. It’s an armchair that happens to have a really tall back. He’s seen real thrones, namely his father’s, his mother’s, and his own, smaller one. He is not impressed.

They all watch as Maleficent files her nails, making sure they come to a sharp point. “You will go. You will find the fairy godmother and you will bring me back her magic wand,” she says simply as she blows on her finished nails. “Easy peasy”, she adds as she finally looks at her daughter.

“What’s in it for us?” Mal asks.

“Matching thrones. Hers and hers crowns,” Maleficent tells her. Hayden snorts as Carlos hesitantly gestures at all of them.

“Um, I, I think she meant us,” he says as Mal nods and also gestures between them.

Maleficent throws her file away and stands up, motioning for Mal to move closer. “It’s all about you and me, baby. Do you enjoy watching innocent people suffer?” she asks with a look that clearly tells Mal what the correct answer is.

Hayden frowns at the question. He, personally, is not a fan of innocents suffering. Now, don’t get him wrong, he’s got absolutely no problem with the suffering of those who deserve it. He’s seen his share of the Fields of Punishment and he’s set his share of eternal torments.

There’s a reason for the final judgment of the Underworld and Hayden, as Hades’ son, believes in fair judgment. Innocents suffering is not fair judgment, which is why he has such a problem with the Isle of the Lost and especially the fact that he was banished to it. After all, birth is only a crime in the delusional minds of the so called ‘heroes’.

“Well, yeah, I mean, who doesn’t-“ Mal agrees only to be cut off by a suddenly frantic Maleficent.

“Well, then get me the wand and you and I can see all that and so much more,” she cries wistfully. “And with that wand, and my scepter, I will be able to bend both good and evil to my will!” she finishes, once again throwing her arms up dramatically. Hayden’s always thought she would have done well in theater.

“Our will,” Evil Queen interjects from her seat at the main table, finally putting down her mirror. Cruella and Jafar both look over in agreement.

“Our will, our will,” Maleficent agrees weakly. She snaps to draw Mal’s attention back to her. “And if you refuse, you’re grounded for the rest of your life, missy,” she tells her with a wink.

Mal immediately begins to protest. “What- Mom!” Maleficent just gestures for her to shut her mouth before leaning down to look her right in the eyes, her own glowing green. Mal’s own eyes start to glow as mother and daughter have a quick staring competition.

Hayden watches, completely bored, as Mal quickly loses the little battle.

“Fine. Whatever,” Mal says, turning away.

“I win,” Maleficent chirps triumphantly.

“Evie!” Evil Queen calls suddenly as Evie eagerly hurries over and takes the seat across from her. “My little evillette in training. You just find yourself a prince with a big castle and a mother-in-law wing,” she tells her.

“And lots and lots of mirrors,” the two of them finish together, Evie with a big smile and a light laugh.

“No laughing,” Evil Queen reminds her. “Wrinkles.” Hayden watches in amusement as Maleficent steadily grows more and more annoyed, dropping her head into her hands.

“Oh, well, they’re not taking my Carlos because I’d miss him too much,” Cruella chimes in, reaching up to pet Carlos’ hair like he’s a dog.

“Really, Mom?” Carlos asks hopefully. Hayden shakes his head at the poor fool.

“Yes,” Cruella says. “Who would touch up my roots, fluff my fur, and scrape the bunions off my feet?” she asks, swinging her leg up for Carlos to catch.

Ooh, Hayden thinks, there’s an idea for the Fields.

“Yeah, maybe a new school wouldn’t be the worst thing,” Carlos says quietly as he drops her leg.

“Carlos,” Cruella says as she caresses his cheek. “They have dogs in Auradon.” Carlos turns back to face Maleficent fearfully.

“Oh, no! I’m not going!” he declares. Hayden grins to himself. A part of him has always wanted to introduce Carlos to Cerberus, just to see what would happen.

Jafar takes that moment to speak up. “Well, Jay isn’t going either,” he says. “I need him to stock the shelves in my store. What did you score?” he asks his son. Jay grins and immediately starts to pull pilfered items from his person. When he pulls out an old oil lamp, Jafar drops everything else with no hesitation.

“A lamp!” he cries, frantically rubbing at its scratched surface. Hayden just shakes his head while Maleficent rolls her eyes.

“Dad,” Jay stops him. “I already tried,” he says reluctantly. Jafar just makes a disgusted little noise and throws the lamp back, bending down to pick up the things he dropped.

“Evie’s not going anywhere until we get rid of this unibrow,” Evil Queen declares as Evie reaches up to feel the blank space between her perfectly plucked eyebrows.

Hayden mentally counts down from three and watches as Maleficent finally snaps, right on time.

“What is wrong with you all?” Maleficent cries. “People used to cower at the mention of our names!” She grabs her daughter’s arm and throws her into a chair. “For twenty years I have searched for a way off this island. For twenty years they have robbed us from our revenge!”

She begins to point at each villain as she provokes them, starting with Evil Queen. “Revenge on Snow White and her horrible little men.”

“Ow,” Evil Queen says, though from the memory or from Evie plucking her eyebrows Hayden isn’t sure.

She points at Jafar next. “Revenge on Aladdin and his bloated genie.”

“I will,” Jafar starts to threaten, spoon held up, only to be stopped by his son.

“Pop,” Jay cautions.

Maleficent moves over to Cruella, who Carlos hides behind in fear. “Revenge on every sneaky dalmatian that escaped your clutches.”

“Oh, but they didn’t get baby,” Cruella says, reaching up to squeak the toy dog on her coat and cackling madly. “They didn’t get the- they didn’t get the baby!”

Maleficent moves over to where Hayden still sits on the dark table, holding one hand out towards him. “And, of course, revenge on those Olympians,” she says. “The same ones that cast the little god here, away from the Underworld, never to see Olympus, or even his own mother,” she says pointedly. Hayden bares his teeth as his fists clench.

“I’ll show those hypocritical, arrogant, power-hungry, lightning throwing-“ he starts, steadily getting louder before he takes a deep breath and runs one hand through his dark hair. “I’m fine. I’m fine. I’m cool. I’m fine,” he says calmly.

She grins in triumph, knowing that Hayden is on board. “And I, Maleficent,” she says, throwing her hands up once again, “the evilest of them all, will finally have my revenge on Sleeping Beauty.” She takes a seat in Evil Queen’s lap, taking her mirror and looking at herself. “And her relentless little prince,” she finishes mockingly.

“Villains!” Maleficent cries, getting multiple responses. “Our day has come,” she says with a smirk. “EQ, give her the magic mirror,” she tells her as she gets up.

“Here,” Evil Queen says as she hands Evie her compact mirror.

“This is your magic mirror?” Evie asks doubtfully. Hayden shakes his head as he sees how far the renowned potions mistress has fallen.

“Yeah, it ain’t what it used to be. Then again, neither are we,” EQ says as she and Maleficent share a laugh. “It will help you find things,” she informs her daughter.

“Like a prince,” Evie says reverently.

“Like my waistline,” Evil Queen jokes.

“Like the magic wand!” Maleficent cries. “Hello!”

“Hello,” EQ responds carelessly.

Maleficent starts to mumble, almost to herself. “My spell book, my book, I need my- that book. Oh! Ah! The safe!” she says, going over to the fridge. “The safe. Queen! Help me. I never can figure this thing out.”

Hayden watches in disbelief as the supposed Mistress of All Evil fails to open a refrigerator door. EQ walks over and simply pushes on the handle, pulling the door open with a “Voila!”

Maleficent grabs her book, tossing it between her hands due to the cold. “My spell- come, darling,” she tells Mal as everybody else gathers around her. “Come. Oh, there she is. It doesn’t work here but it will in Auradon,” she reminds them. “Remember? When we were spreading evil and ruining lives?” she asks nostalgically.

“Like it was yesterday,” Evil Queen says in the same tone.

“And now you will be making your own memories by doing exactly as I tell you,” Maleficent tells Mal as she slams the book into her chest. Hayden just rolls his eyes, leaping up from his table as he hears a car’s horn out front.

Hayden makes his way silently outside, grabbing the black skull encrusted bags he’d stashed by the front door earlier, ignoring the villains’ unique brands of ‘goodbyes’ for their children.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you thought and anything you might like to see/read!


	3. Chapter 3

Hayden drops his bags in the trunk of the limo sent by Auradon, rolling his eyes as he does so. Was a limo necessary? Did they really have to emphasize the difference in life on the Isle and in Auradon so clearly?

He opens the door to climb in, ignoring the sounds of the others coming outside. Hayden pauses with one hand on the door, looking out over the Isle one last time before he leaves. As he does, he sees a distant figure standing on a roof top, looking right at him.

Bright golden eyes meet kohl-lined blue. Harry pulls his hat off and holds it against his chest, giving Hayden a mocking bow. Hayden smirks back and offers a sloppy two-fingered salute before climbing into the car.

He takes the seat in the corner, doing his best to find a decent shadow, and cocks an eyebrow as Jay climbs in next. The thief is holding his beanie in his hands and pulls what looks like the golden hood ornament out of it before pulling it back over his hair.

“New toy?” Hayden asks mildly. Jay shoots him an innocent look that wouldn’t fool even a Gaston.

“I paid for it,” he says. They manage to keep their faces straight for all of about three seconds before they both start to laugh. Their laughter trails off as Carlos literally dives into the car, clearly avoiding his mother, followed by Evie and finally by Mal.

“The jackals have landed,” he hears the driver say before the vehicle starts moving.

It’s then that they all seem to notice the candy set out before them. Well, Hayden had noticed almost as soon as he sat down, he was just trying to avoid looking at the brightly colored monstrosities.

Jay and Carlos immediately start to fight over the sweets while Evie grabs a simple piece of blue, of course, candy on a stick. As Mal starts to fiddle with an odd little remote she found, Evie notices that Hayden hasn’t grabbed anything.

She turns back to where she got her piece and hands him what looks like the exact same type of candy, only in black. He smiles a little as he takes it.

“Cheers,” he tells her, sticking the candy in his mouth. He crinkles his nose slightly at the almost too-sweet flavor, but ultimately decides it’s not that bad.

Evie smiles back at him before turning to Mal. “You’re looking a little washed out,” she tells her as she holds out a makeup brush. “Let me help you out.”

Mal gives her a disgusted look and pushes away the brush. “Ew, stop. I’m plotting,” she says.

“Well, it’s not very attractive,” Evie says simply. “And you,” she adds turning towards Hayden, “I know that tall, dark, and handsome is a thing for a reason, but a little color never hurt.” Hayden looks at her blankly.

“Sometimes I wear gray,” he deadpans. Evie gives him an exasperated look and takes a bite of her candy. Hayden ignores Jay and Carlos talking about the candy from beside him and looks over at Mal just as she presses a button on her little remote.

Evidently, the button causes the divider between the back of the limo and the driver’s seat to go down. Hayden slouches a little more in his seat, trying to avoid the additional sunlight now shining into the back. Evie, however, turns to look out the front window.

“Look!” she cries in alarm. They all turn and see that the limo is driving straight for the barrier, headed straight for open water.

“It’s a trap!” Carlos screams as they all begin to panic. Hayden finds himself unwillingly squished in the center as Jay reaches behind him to pull Evie closer and the princess curls into his side, Mal doing the same to her while Carlos leans into Jay. He sits there, expression completely bored, as a glowing bridge extends between the Isle and Auradon and the others slowly realize that they haven’t plummeted to their deaths.

“You can all get off me now,” he says. “Nobody here is dying anytime soon. I would know,” he reminds them. They all slowly pull away.

“What just happened?” Carlos asks confused.

“It must be magic,” Evie smiles, delighted by the possibility. Mal immediately turns to look at the driver.

“Hey,” she says, tapping to get his attention. “Did this little button just open up the magic barrier?”

“No way it’s that easy,” Hayden protests. Mal tosses him an annoyed glance for interrupting her little interrogation.

“No,” the driver says, holding up another remote. “This one opens up the magic barrier. That one opens my garage. And this button…” He reaches up and presses another button that slowly raises the barrier between the front and back of the car.

Mal turns back around with a smirk as they all exchange amused and slightly impressed looks. That was more Isle-like than anything they expected from Auradon citizens.

“Okay,” Mal says. “Nasty. I like that guy.”

The limo eventually reaches the end of the bridge and it’s not long before they’re pulling up to the school. They pass a big and shiny sign as they officially enter school grounds.

“Auradon Prep. Goodness doesn’t get any better,” Hayden reads with a scoff. “Yet they seem to think evil can always get worse.”

“Tell me about it,” Mal mutters back. The limo comes to a stop at what seems to be the front of the school. There are people standing all around, dressed in far too many pastels for Hayden’s taste and waving little flags or holding welcome signs, cheering for them as if they actually want them there. They’ve even got their marching band playing a song.

As their driver goes to open their door, Hayden notices that Jay and Carlos have started to collect things from the limo. Inevitably, they’re fighting over something just as the door swings open. Carlos falls out, never losing his grip, and Jay follows, still pulling back as they argue.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Mal says under her breath as Hayden allows her and Evie to get out before him. He smirks as he slinks out of the car and hears the cheering and music stop, honestly delighted with their first impressions.

It’s good that they know what they’re getting into, he thinks.

“Guys. Guys. Guys!” Mal hisses as she moves forward likes she’s trying to block the fighting duo from view. “We have an audience,” she continues, hands on her hips as she smiles awkwardly at the woman making her way to the front of the crowd.

Hayden cackles at her attempts to defuse the situation and gets a sharp elbow to the ribs in response. He schools his features back into a blank mask, fighting back a grin when he notices the way the Auradonians are looking at him in particular. He knows he makes them all uncomfortable and it's not his job or goal to change that.

“Just cleaning up,” Jay says with a bright smile. It quickly falls as he reaches down and effortlessly pulls Carlos to his feet. “Get up,” he mutters.

The woman standing in front of them, flanked by two people who must have been students, smiles at them. “Leave it like you found it,” she sings. “And by that, I mean just leave it,” she says, a little more seriously. Jay unceremoniously throws his loot back in the limo, shoving at Hayden’s shoulder as the boy shakes his head at him and tuts in mock disapproval.

Predictably, as soon as Jay sees the pretty, caramel-skinned girl standing in front of them, he immediately hits on her. “Hello, foxy. The name’s Jay.” Hayden and Carlos share an amused look as the girl just awkwardly laughs.

The dark-haired woman leans over to get between Jay and the girl. “Welcome to Auradon Prep,” she says brightly as she straightens up to look at all of them. “I’m Fairy Godmother, headmistress.” She does an odd little curtsey as she says it.

“_The_ fairy godmother?” Mal asks in realization. She twirls her hand like she’s holding a wand. “As in bibbidi-bobbidi-boo?”

Fairy Godmother nods. “Bibbidi-bobbidi. You know it.”

“Yeah,” Mal says. “I always wondered what it felt like for Cinderella when you just appeared, out of nowhere, with that sparkly wand and warm smile.” Fairy Godmother practically melts at that. “And that sparkly wand,” Mal repeats.

Hayden shoots her a warning look for the lack of subtlety.

Fair Godmother smiles again. “That was a long time ago. And as I always say: don’t focus on the past or you’ll miss the future,” she says, waving her hands in front of her face.

Yeah, right, Hayden thinks. The Isle’s been around for twenty years. It seems like they’re pretty focused on the past to him.

Both of the teenagers standing beside Fairy Godmother step forward. “It’s so good to finally meet you all,” the boy says. “I’m Ben.”

“Prince Benjamin,” the girl interrupts. “Soon to be king.” Evie immediately moves forward.

“You had me at prince,” she says. “My mom’s a queen which makes me a princess,” she adds with a delicate curtsy.

“The Evil Queen has no royal status here,” the girl tells her cattily. “And neither do you.”

Hayden raises one eyebrow. “You just referred to her as the Evil _Queen_. That clearly means she still has royal status here and so does her daughter.” She huffs in irritation, clearly unable to come up with a response, while Evie sends Hayden a thankful look.

Prince Ben chuckles nervously. “This is Audrey,” he introduces, only for her to immediately interject again.

“Princess Audrey. His girlfriend, right Bennyboo?” she asks as she reaches out to grab hold of his hand. Hayden would ask if they’re supposed to care but he’s too busy wondering what exactly the little prince did to deserve such a horrifying name.

Fairy Godmother puts her hands on theirs. “Ben and Audrey are going to show you all around, and I’ll see you tomorrow.” She breaks their hands apart with a grand gesture and walks forward. “The doors of wisdom are never shut. But the library hours are between eight and eleven and as you may have heard, I have a little thing about curfews.” She walks off, followed by the band.

Ben moves forward to properly greet them. “It is so, so good,” he gets a hit to the chest from Jay rather than the handshake he was going for, “to finally meet you all.” Mal’s next in line for a handshake and Hayden raises an eyebrow as he notices how long the prince spends simply holding on to her hand and staring at her before apparently shaking himself out of his daze.

“This is a momentous occasion,” he continues, moving on to Carlos. “And one that I hope will go down in history- Is that chocolate?”

The prince holds out his hand for Hayden to shake next and the pale boy just stares at him, arms crossed. Ben gulps as he looks into those golden eyes and feels like his very soul is being appraised. A shiver runs down his spine as Hayden slowly smirks and jerks his head softly to the side, silently telling him to move along, never making a move to hold out his own hand.

He shakes Evie’s hand last, who seems reluctant to let go of an actual prince. “As the day our two peoples began to heal,” he finishes grandly.

“Or the day that you showed five peoples where the bathrooms are,” Mal mockingly announces. Ben smiles wide as he moves back in front of her.

“A little bit over the top?” he asks.

“A little more than a little bit,” Mal says with a smile and a soft laugh. Ben’s smile only grows.

“Well, so much for my first impression,” he tells her. The two of them share another short laugh while Hayden and Evie look at each other knowingly. This is an interesting development. Audrey does not seem to agree.

She leans in to Mal’s line of vision. “Hey! You’re Maleficent’s daughter, aren’t you? Yeah, you know what? I totally do not blame you for your mother trying to kill my parents and stuff.” She smiles a little wider. “Oh, my mom’s Aurora. Sleeping-“

“Beauty!” Mal interrupts. “Yeah, I’ve heard the name. You know, and I totally do not blame your grandparents for inviting everyone in the whole world but my mother to their stupid christening.”

“Water under the bridge?” Audrey asks through a smile that’s fooling nobody.

“Totes!” Mal says as they share an obnoxiously fake laugh that drifts off into an obviously annoyed sigh. Hayden smirks at the tension.

“Meow,” he mutters, making sure it’s just loud enough for everyone to hear. Jay and Carlos snicker while Evie looks amused.

“Shut up, Hayden,” Mal snaps over her shoulder.

“Okay,” Ben says as he claps his hands together. “So, how about a tour? Yeah?” He turns and starts to walk towards the main building, Audrey immediately latching onto his arm. They all start to follow, Mal turning back to give them an annoyed look like she can’t believe the nerve of the bratty princess.

“Auradon Prep,” Ben says, “originally built over three-hundred years ago and converted into a high school by my father when he became king.” They come to a stop in front of a large statue of the king himself. Ben claps twice and the statue morphs into the king’s beastly form.

Carlos immediately screams and jumps into Jay’s arms. Jay, for his credit, doesn’t even seem fazed.

“Carlos, it’s okay,” Ben reassures him. “My father wanted his statue to morph from beast to man to remind us that anything is possible.”

Hayden rolls his eyes at that. “You have got to be kidding me,” he mutters. “How cliché can they get?”

“Does he shed much?” Mal asks mildly.

“Yeah. Mom won’t let him on the couch,” Ben deadpans. Mal gives him a look and he just smiles back at her before leading the way inside the building. The rest of them follow, Jay setting Carlos back on the ground with a small shove. Hayden gets about two steps before he realizes the freckled boy isn’t behind him.

He looks back just in time to see Carlos staring back at the statue. Hayden slinks up beside Carlos, watching as he tries and fails to make the statue transform.

“You should see Cerberus some time,” he says lightly. Carlos gives a wide-eyed look, clearly even more terrified by the idea of a giant three-headed dog than a normal one. Hayden just laughs.

“Knock it off, man,” Carlos tells him as they follow the others into the main building.

“So, you guys have a lot of magic here in Auradon?” Mal asks. “Wands and things like that?”

“Yeah, it exists of course,” Ben answers her, “but it’s mostly retired. Most of us here are just ordinary mortals.”

“Who just happen to be kings and queens,” Mal points out with a roll of her eyes.

“That’s true,” Audrey says, forcing the poor prince to put his arm around her. “Our royal blood goes back hundreds of years.”

“Nobody asked,” Hayden drawls, expression bored. “Of course,” he continues, “if we’re counting, then my blood goes back eons, doesn’t it?” Audrey gives him one of those fake smiles she seems so well practiced in.

Ben looks around for a way to break the tension and brightens up as he sees a person in a band uniform coming down the stairs. “Doug!” he calls, nearly prying Audrey off of him. “Doug, come down.” He walks over to him and throws an arm around his shoulders. “This is Doug. He’s going to help you with your class schedules and show you the rest of the dorms.”

Ben walks back over to stand beside his girlfriend. “I’ll see you later, okay?” He seems to be speaking directly to Mal, which Audrey notices. “And if there is anything you need, feel free to-“ Audrey interrupts him again.

“Ask Doug!” she says. She and Mal share another fake laugh and sigh before she drags Ben out of the building with her.

“She is more annoying than Pain and Panic,” Hayden tells them, not bothering to keep his voice down until she’s farther away. “I didn’t think it was possible.” They all smirk a little. Even Doug looks like he wants to smile at that before he clears his throat and lifts one hand in a nervous wave.

“Hi, guys,” he greets them. “I’m Dopey’s son. As in, Dopey, Doc, Bashful, Happy, Grumpy, Sleepy, and…” he trails off as he sets his eyes on Evie. “Heigh-ho,” he breathes shakily. Hayden and Jay share an eyeroll as another boy gets sucked into Evie’s undeniable beauty.

“Evie,” she says smoothly, twirling a lock of hair. “Evil Queen’s daughter.”

Doug seems to shake himself out of it. “Okay. So, about your classes, I, uh, I put in some requirements already. History of Woodsmen and Pirates,” Hayden ignores the look Carlos gives him as he perks up slightly at the word ‘pirates’, “Safety Rules for the Internet, and, uh, Remedial Goodness 101.”

Doug gives them a nervous look as Mal moves to look over his shoulder at the list of classes.

“Let me guess,” Mal says as she puts a piece of candy in her mouth, “new class?” Doug just nods. Mal drops the candy wrapper on the ground, ignoring Hayden’s annoyed look at her actions. “Come on, guys. Let’s go find our dorms.”

Mal, Jay, Carlos, and Evie start up the staircase while Hayden bends down to pick up the wrapper. Doug shoots him a curious look before realizing where the others are going.

“Oh, uh, yeah,” he says, pointing in the other direction. “Your dorms are that way guys.” They all come back down the stairs as Hayden spots a trash can and goes to throw away the wrapper.

Doug starts counting off the dwarves on his fingers. “Dopey, Doc, Bashful, Happy, Grumpy, Sleepy,..”

“Sneezy,” Carlos says simply as he walks by him. Doug throws his head back with a groan like he can’t believe he forgot. As Hayden makes his way by him, he calls him back.

“Right, uh, Hayden,” he says nervously. He swallows hard as Hayden stops and looks at him without saying a word. “The, uh, the others are rooming together, Jay with Carlos and Evie with Mal, but, uh, you actually get a room to yourself.”

Hayden gives him a wide grin that seems to only make him more nervous. “Nobody wanted to share with the devil’s son, huh?” he asks rhetorically. Doug nods sheepishly and hands him a piece of paper with their room numbers on it. Hayden glances down at it and cackles as he turns on his heel to catch up with the others.

He’s in room number unlucky thirteen. He wonders which Auradonian actually has a sense of humor and assigned him that room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so, the next chapter is where we start to get a bit more divergence from the movie. We'll get to see Hayden and what he actually gets up to in Auradon.  
Let me know what you thought and anything you might like to see/read!


	4. Chapter 4

After Hayden finds the others and tells them their room numbers, he finds his way to his own. It doesn’t take him long before he’s standing in front of a wooden door with a dark metal ‘13’ nailed to the front. He stares at it for a second before reaching out and turning it just enough that the number hangs crooked.

Satisfied, he pushes the door open and is met with an unfortunately well-lit room. The walls are the same wood as the door and most of the furniture, which he can deal with, but the bedspread is a blue and green plaid thing that absolutely needs to go, along with the matching curtains. 

Luckily, Hayden is prepared for something like this. He sees his bags sitting on the table in the center of the room and walks over, immediately opening the smaller one. He pulls a pitch-black comforter out of its depths then reaches in and pulls out a set of gray sheets, followed by a black pillowcase.

See, when Hades learned that his son would be going to Auradon, the land of color among other things, he gifted him with a godly bag that can hold far more than should be physically possible. He then proceeded to make sure he had proper furnishings to replace whatever the school chose to give him.

“Thank you, Father,” Hayden says to himself as he strips the bed. He makes sure to pull down the bright yellow and blue Auradon Prep crest hanging over it as well. He makes quick work of changing out the blankets before crossing back over to his bag to pull out some heavy black drapes for the windows.

Once he has the curtains replaced and his drapes pulled closed, the dorm immediately darkens. He turns off at least half the lights in the room, standing on the table to unscrew two of the three bulbs in the ceiling light, and finally deems it acceptable.

The rejected blankets and curtains, along with the school crest, get thrown unceremoniously on the closet floor.

That done, Hayden crosses back to his bag and pulls out possibly the most important things he packed. One at a time, he pulls out a sizable stack of books. _The History of Death. Mysteries of Mausoleums Explained. Historic Burial Sites. The Instruments of Torture. 101 Herbs and Their Uses. Language of Flowers. Folklore and Symbolism of Flowers, Plants, and Trees._

Finally, he sets down copies of both _The Odyssey _and _The Iliad _in the original Greek.

Every time Hayden leaves the Underworld for another six months, his father sends study materials with him. As much as he likes to read, novels are few and far between on the Isle so the majority of what he has is for Hades’ training. Homer’s works are sort of like he’s just reading a novel but, even then, it can be considered training as he memorizes every hero and every god, every monster and what they did.

Still, Hayden thinks, Achilles said it wasn’t entirely accurate anyway. He and Odysseus both said some liberties were taken to make for a slightly more entertaining story.

Hayden usually gets his fill of actual stories from Harry. Like any good pirate, Captain James Hook, along with his crew, is always willing to share tales of adventure from his days sailing on the high seas. The more rum he drinks, the more creative his stories get. Harry, knowing how much Hayden loves a good story, knowing a good book is hard to come by on the Isle, is always willing to pass the pirates’ tales along.

Running his fingers over the books in front of him, Hayden smiles as he thinks about the numerous nights the two of them have spent lying on a rooftop and passing a stolen bottle of rum between them as Harry recounts his father’s days sailing on the Jolly Roger.

Hayden bites at his bottom lip as he remembers Fairy Godmother saying something about a library. He and the others agreed to meet in Carlos and Jay’s room after dark so they could discuss the plan. He’s got a few hours…

Before he can overthink it anymore, Hayden leaves his room, intent on finding the school’s library. He passes other students on his way through the halls and fights back a grin when he notices the way they all resolutely avoid eye contact, many of them actually turning and walking in another direction rather than pass by him.

On one particularly memorable occasion, a dark-haired girl in a blue dress actually squeaks in fear as she sees him and quickly ducks into a nearby bathroom. 

It doesn’t take that long before Hayden finds himself in front of the library doors. He pushes through and immediately stops in his tracks. Shelves upon shelves of books fill the giant room. He glances up and sees a second level filled with even more.

As many problems as he has with the ruling couple, and there are many, he can’t fault Queen Belle for her stance on books.

Hayden looks around the school’s library in awe, unsure where to start. Ignoring the untrusting glances from the few other people in the room, he starts to walk down the shelves, reading the labels at the end of each one. He sees the history books and starts in that direction, intent on finding something on ancient cultures and doing a bit more studying, when he comes across the classics section.

He hesitates for only a moment before making his way down the aisle. He stops in front of a section of shelving that seems to be entirely dedicated to the works of William Shakespeare. Hayden knows the gist of most of his works, that’s what happens when you talk to the ghost of the man himself, but he’s never actually had a physical copy to read.

“I did tell Will I’d take the opportunity if it ever came up,” he mutters to himself. He scans the shelf until he finds a copy of Macbeth and pulls it out.

Assuming there must be some way to keep track of what books leave the library, Hayden makes his way over to the front desk. There’s no librarian present, but he sees a sign out sheet with a set of instructions taped next to it. He scans the page, ignoring the obnoxiously bright yellow and blue border it has, and sees that it seems simple enough.

Hayden quickly scrawls his name, in Greek of course, on the appropriate line before writing the date. That done, he turns on his heel and leaves the library, intent on making his way to the boys’ dorm, knowing that if he goes back to his own to start reading, he’ll end up forgetting about the little meeting Mal wants to have.

A few hours later, Mal and Evie finally make their way into the boys’ dorm. Carlos is occupied with some kind of video game while Jay is emptying his pockets. There’s a sizable pile of stolen items already on his bed.

“Jay, what are you doing?” Mal asks as she stops beside him, eyeing his stash.

“It’s called stealing,” Jay answers simply.

“Okay, but what’s the point?”

“Well, Mal,” he says as he pulls a laptop out with a grin, “it’s like buying whatever I want, except it’s free.” He opens the computer, absently clicking at random keys. Mal laughs a little as she picks up a cellphone.

“Okay. So, you could do that, or you could leave all of this here and pick it up when we take over the world,” she drops the phone carelessly back on the bed as she says it. Jay just rolls his eyes.

Evie looks away from her mirror briefly at that. “You sound just like your mom,” she tells Mal. Mal smiles and puts one hand to her chest, absolutely flattered.

“Thank you,” she says as she looks smugly back at Jay.

Jay drops the laptop on the bed and makes his way to the other side of the room. “You do it your way and I’ll do it mine.” She rolls her eyes and turns to the table sitting in the center of the room.

Mal sees that Hayden is sitting on the table, like usual, with an open book resting on his crossed legs. “Already found the library?” she asks, not surprised at all while Jay gets sucked into Carlos’ video game, obviously attracted to the violence of it.

“Sure did,” Hayden mumbles, not even looking up from his book. She rolls her eyes again and looks over at the television at a particularly loud sound effect.

“Guys! Do I have to remind you what we’re all here for?” she asks, irritated with all the distractions.

“Fairy Godmother, blah, blah, blah. Magic wand, blah, blah, blah,” Jay says looking over his shoulder. Carlos and Evie both laugh while Hayden finally looks away from his book, grinning at Mal’s annoyance.

“This is our one chance to prove ourselves to our parents,” Mal reminds them fiercely and they all lose their smiles. “To prove that we are evil and vicious and ruthless and cruel. Yeah?”

“Yeah,” they all respond, finally taking things a little more seriously.

“Evie, mirror me,” Mal says as she takes a seat at the table. Evie sits beside her while Jay and Carlos stand behind them. Hayden closes his book, marking his place with his thumb, and turns from his spot still on the table to face them.

“Magic Mirror on the-,” Evie stumbles over her words slightly, “in my hand, where is Fairy Godmother’s wand… stand?” The usually reflective surface quickly changes to show a magnificent wand, bathed in some kind of light.

“There it is,” Mal says eagerly.

“Zoom out,” Carlos tells her.

“Magic Mirror, not so close,” Evie says. The mirror zooms out until it shows a picture of the entire earth. Hayden smirks at Mal’s irritated huff and returns to his book, figuring this might take a little while. “Closer,” Evie tells it. “Closer. Closer.”

“Can I go back to my game?” Carlos asks. “I’m on level three.” He turns to walk back to the game, only to stop at Jay’s sudden shout.

“Stop!”

“It’s in a museum,” Mal says. “Do we know where that is?”

Carlos types quickly on a laptop sitting beside him before turning it so the others can see the screen. “2.3 miles from here,” he tells her. Exchanging wide smiles, Mal, Jay, and Evie quickly head to the door, ready to leave for the museum.

Mal opens the door, checking that the hallway is clear, before the three of them head out. She immediately notices that two of her number are missing and knows exactly what they’re doing.

“Carlos! Hayden!” Mal calls.

Carlos quickly puts down the game controllers, pulls his jacket on, and hurries out the door. “Coming!” Hayden turns a page in his book, jumping off the table but making no real move to leave.

“Hayden!” she calls again.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m coming,” he says absently, still reading as he starts toward the door.

“Leave the book!” Mal snaps. He looks up with a scowl before carefully setting it facedown on the table to save his place and catching up with the others.

It doesn’t take them long to make it to the museum, all of them constantly looking over their shoulders despite the fact that the Auradon streets seem to be completely abandoned after dark.

Hayden looks around as they hurry down a set of stone steps. “Oh, I much prefer this place at night,” he says. “Of course, they still have to ruin it with all these streetlamps.”

Mal shoots him an amused look before turning to Evie. “Check your mirror,” she tells her. The princess immediately gasps and pulls it out.

“Is my mascara smudged?” she asks. Mal gives her a disbelieving look.

“Yeah and, hey, while you’re at it, why don’t you see if you can find us the wand?” she asks sarcastically. Evie smiles at her, either oblivious to the sarcasm or just ignoring it.

“Sure.” She checks her mirror quickly. “This way,” she says, leading the way towards the entrance. All five of them stop in front of the entry doors and peer inside.

They can see a security guard, with his back to them, monitoring various screens that show some of the artifacts in the museum. Among them are King Triton’s trident, the Beast’s famous rose, and Aladdin’s magic lamp. In the center of the room, on its own pedestal, sits Maleficent’s spinning wheel.

Hayden frowns, wondering why it would be front and center like that. Wouldn’t it make more sense for the rose to be at the main entrance?

They all quickly duck away as the guard spins around in his chair. They wait a moment before moving back in front of the doors.

“There it is,” Mal breathes reverently as she looks at the wheel. Carlos and Jay, however, are of a far different opinion.

“_That’s _your mother’s spinning wheel?” Jay laughs.

“Yeah, it’s kinda dorky,” Carlos agrees with his eyebrows raised. Mal frowns at them.

“It’s magic. It doesn’t have to look scary,” she defends as she opens her spell book.

“Oh, so you get to bring your book,” Hayden drawls.

“Shut up,” Mal tells him as she finds her spell and looks back at the guard. “Magic spindle do not linger. Make my victim prick a finger.” They all watch in anticipation only for the security guard to do nothing more than yawn a little.

“Impressive,” Jay snarks.

“I got chills,” Carlos says sarcastically as he holds up one arm. Hayden grins as Mal throws them an irritated look.

“Okay, you know what?” she asks rhetorically, looking for a different spell. “Prick the finger. Prick it deep. Send my enemy off to sleep.” The guard instantly stands up, clearly not in control of his own actions, before touching his fingertip to the wheel’s needle. He yawns and lies down on the pedestal, asleep in seconds. 

Mal shoots them all a smirk. “Not so dorky now, huh?” she asks smugly. She tries to open the door only to realize it’s locked. They all immediately look at Jay.

“Do you have your lock picks?” Carlos asks him. The long-haired boy gives him a mildly offended look.

“Of course, I do,” he scoffs, crouching down to examine the door. “I just don’t think they’ll work on this one,” he admits after a moment. “Don’t worry, though. I got this.”

As Jay takes a couple of steps back, ready to kick the door in, Hayden reaches out one hand to stop him. “Wait, Jay,” he says. “This isn’t the Isle. If you break the lock, they’re definitely gonna know something’s up.”

“He’s right,” Mal nods. “Let me try something,” she adds as she flips through a couple of pages in her book, Evie looking over her shoulder.

Jay sighs in frustration. “I never get to do anything fun,” he mutters.

“That one!” Evie cries suddenly, pointing to one of the spells in the book. Mal scans it quickly.

“Good eye, E,” she tells her. “Okay, here we go,” she breathes. “Make it easy. Make it quick. Open up without a kick.”

The door clicks open and they all hurry inside, quietly making their way past the guard before running down the museum hallways.

“So close,” Evie says, looking at her mirror. “Up the stairs,” she tells them with a point.

“Come on, guys. Up. Up. Up,” Mal ushers them all. They rush up the staircases, only to freeze as they come to the top, right in front of an exhibit labeled _Gallery of Villains_. They all walk slowly forward, making their way to the statues of their parents.

“Mommy?” Evie asks, tilting her head at the statue of the Evil Queen in her prime, holding aloft the infamous poisoned apple.

“Killer,” Jay says quietly, never taking his eyes off the statue of Jafar, cobra staff in hand.

“I’ll never forget Mother’s Day again,” Carlos vows, staring wide-eyed at Cruella’s likeness, chasing a few dalmatian puppies across a bridge.

Hayden stares in awe at the statue of his father. Hades, wearing his dark robes of Ancient Greece, lounges in a replica of his throne, a great obsidian chair inlaid with bones and glittering gems. “By the fates,” he whispers reverently, bowing his head slightly and crossing both arms over his chest, right over left, as a sign of respect.

After a silent moment, Jay claps his hands together. “Well, wand’s not here. Let’s bounce,” he says, quickly leaving the room with Evie and Carlos behind him. Hayden looks at Mal, who is still transfixed by Maleficent’s statue, before deciding to leave her to whatever it is she’s thinking about.

He turns on his heel, intent on joining the others in their search for the wand, before he sees a sign to his left. “_Gallery of the Gods_,” he reads aloud. With one last glance back at Mal, he walks in that direction instead.

As soon as he enters the room, he’s faced with a statue of Zeus. “Lightning Boy,” Hayden sneers. “Mr. High and Mighty himself,” he mocks. He quickly turns his back on Zeus, making his way through the room and looking for a particular goddess. He rolls his eyes as he passes a statue of Hercules. “Oh, come on. He’s not even a god,” he complains.

Hayden falls silent as he finally finds the statue he’s looking for. He stares at the beautiful woman with familiar black curls and a golden complexion he most definitely did not inherit. Slowly, he reaches out and softly traces the Greek name written beneath its English translation.

“Mother,” he whispers.

“Hey!” Hayden whips his head around at the sudden voice and sees Evie standing in the doorway. Her face softens as she sees what he’s looking at. She makes her way into the room and stops beside him, silently looking at Persephone’s statue for a moment. “She’s beautiful,” Evie says quietly.

“She is,” Hayden agrees, voice equally quiet before he shakes his head and starts toward the door. “We should get going,” he says. “Did you guys find the wand?”

“Yeah,” Evie tells him excitedly. “We’ve just got to get Mal,” she adds, walking back into the _Gallery of Villains_. Mal quickly joins them as Evie leads the way to the others. They all happily make their way to where the wand hangs suspended in some sort of spell.

Jay immediately starts forward, always ready to make a great steal.

“Jay, don’t!” Mal warns him. He just gives her a smirk and ducks under the railing. Unfortunately, as soon as his hand meets the light of the spell, a loud siren triggers as the force field flings Jay backward.

“A force field and a siren?” Carlos calls as they all cover their ears.

“That’s just a little excessive,” Jay calls back, clearly annoyed with the museum’s competent security.

“Evidently, it’s not,” Hayden tells them.

“Let’s go,” Mal orders as they all run from the room and back to the front doors. Hayden notices that the guard is missing from his post and figures he went to check on the alarm, meaning they were lucky not to run into him. Mal, Jay, Evie, and Hayden make their way outside as Carlos stops to answer the ringing phone, quickly typing something into a keypad that stops the siren and making some sort of excuse to whoever was on the other line.

“Carlos!” Mal calls for him. He gives her a slightly offended look.

“You’re welcome,” he says sarcastically, joining the rest of them as they make a run for Auradon Prep.

“Not bad, Los,” Hayden tells him, impressed.

“Way to go, Jay. Now we have to go to school tomorrow,” Mal complains.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we go! Like I said, I will be making slight changes to the movie, such as them opening the museum doors. Plus, we got to learn that Hayden's a little bookworm and a bit more about him and Harry.  
Let me know what you thought and anything you might like to see/read!  
P.S. 'Mysteries of Mausoleums Explained' and 'Historic Burial Sites' are book titles I made up. The others do actually exist.


	5. Chapter 5

The next day finds the five of them sitting in their Remedial Goodness 101 classroom. Not that it’s actually in a classroom, but rather in what seems to be some kind of study lounge. This means, of course, that various students can come and go and get a glimpse of the villains’ kids learning to act like Auradonians.

Needless to say, Hayden is not a fan.

Fairy Godmother has a chalkboard set up at the front of the room filled with meticulously neat handwriting. Evie and Mal share one table, with Mal drawing and Evie the only girl paying attention to the lesson, while Jay and Carlos share the one beside them, both completely bored as they listen to their teacher. Hayden is sitting at the table behind the boys and not even pretending to pay attention.

He’s leaning back in his chair with his black boots propped on the tabletop and a thick book in his hands. It’s not _Macbeth_, having finished that when they got back from their failed museum heist. Instead, he’s back to his studying by reading _The History of Death_. He chose that one specifically this morning just to see what kinds of reactions it would get from the Auradonians.

“Someone hands you a crying baby,” Fairy Godmother says grandly. “Do you A: curse it? B: lock it in a tower? C: give it a bottle? Or D: carve out its heart?” For every option, she makes sure to dramatically illustrate the choice.

Evie quickly raises her hand with a bright smile. Fairy Godmother happily calls on her. “What was the second one?” Evie asks. Mal looks up just long enough to give her a disbelieving look before returning to her drawing of the wand.

“Oh, okay,” Fairy Godmother says in a disappointed tone. “Anyone else?” She looks around, waving her pointer, and notices that Hayden is more occupied with reading his book than the lesson. “Hayden?” she asks. The dark-haired boy finishes his page, turning it as he looks up to briefly scan the chalkboard.

“Well, you don’t carve out the heart,” he answers. Fairy Godmother immediately brightens, her smile somehow getting even bigger.

“No, you do not!” she agrees cheerily, clearly happy that he seems to be ‘improving’ and learning between right and wrong.

Hayden nods at her. “I mean, infant souls are such a drag. There’s _so_ much paperwork involved,” he continues. Her smile immediately falls at his reasoning. Jay and Carlos both snicker while Mal sends him a smirk and Evie tries to hide a smile.

Fairy Godmother opens and closes her mouth a few times, not quite sure how to respond, before she finally just gives up. “Mal,” she calls on her, still looking for the correct answer. Hayden shrugs to himself, not surprised that she doesn’t understand.

Mal looks up from her drawing. “C: give it a bottle,” she says simply.

“Correct,” Fairy Godmother says with a smile. “Again,” she adds proudly.

“You are on fire, girl!” Carlos tells her, clearly impressed. Mal gives him a pointed look.

“Just pick the one that doesn’t sound like any fun,” she explains like it should be completely obvious. Carlos, Jay, and Evie all make sounds of understanding.

“That makes so much sense,” Evie whispers. Hayden rolls his eyes and shakes his head, about to return to his book when their class gets interrupted by an unexpected visitor. A vaguely familiar girl in a blue dress, the same one that had ducked into a bathroom to avoid him, nervously makes her way down the aisle between their tables. She squeaks in fear once again as she passes by him.

Hayden watches as she very nervously makes her way up to Fairy Godmother’s little teaching platform, clutching a clipboard to her chest. 

“Oh, hello, dear one,” Fairy Godmother says softly as she leans down closer to her height.

“Hi,” she says. “You need to sign off on early dismissal for the coronation,” she finishes quickly, glancing back toward them anxiously. Her eyes flit over each of them before they land on Hayden. He sends her a wide, unsettling grin and watches in amusement as she flinches slightly with a muffled squeak and turns back to Fairy Godmother.

“Everyone here remembers my daughter, Jane?” Fairy Godmother asks as she signs the papers. Hayden cocks an eyebrow at that and immediately looks over at Mal. As expected, she seems to be very interested in this new development.

“Mom, no!” Jane pleads. Fairy Godmother just smiles as she hands the clipboard back.

“It’s okay,” she tells her softly. “Jane, this is everyone,” she adds as she turns her around and gives her a gentle push forward. Jane swallows hard as she looks at them.

“Hi,” she nearly whispers. “That’s okay, don’t mind me. As you were,” she says timidly with a little curtsy before making her way quickly back down the aisle between their tables. Hayden smirks as she gives that scared little squeak again.

Fairy Godmother clears her throat. “Let’s continue,” she says, making her way back to her chalk board and gesturing dramatically with her pointer. Hayden rolls his eyes, wondering if all adults are so dramatic. Fairy Godmother, Maleficent, his own father…

“You find a vial of poison,” Fair Godmother goes on. “Do you A: put it in the king’s wine?” Evie hesitantly starts to raise her hand. “B: paint it on an apple?” Hayden smirks as Evie shares a look with Mal and giggles at that option. “Or C: turn it over to the proper authorities?”

Three hands shoot up into the air. Mal continues to draw while Hayden keeps his eyes on the table in front of him as Jay shoves Carlos’ hand down and Fairy Godmother calls on him. Jay answers correctly and Hayden just rolls his eyes and returns to his book, knowing exactly what’s coming next.

Sure enough, not three seconds later the two boys are on top of their table, Jay easily pinning Carlos down even as the white-haired boy manages to shove a knee into his kidney. Fairy Godmother is the only other person in the room that seems to care as she repeatedly taps her pointer against her podium, trying to get their attention.

“Boys. Boys!” They both stop struggling with each other and look up at her. “I am going to encourage you to use that energy on the tourney field,” she says as she points toward one of the windows.

“Oh, no, that’s okay,” Carlos says as Jay lets him up. “Whatever that is,” he continues, shoving one last time at Jay who just gives him a look, “we’ll- we’ll pass.”

Fairy Godmother gives him a smile. “I think it might be good for you boys,” she says before looking back at where Hayden is still leaning back in his seat, having never looked up from his book at all their commotion. “Hayden, would you like to join them?” she asks. Apparently not fighting in class means he gets something closer to a choice.

“Pass,” he says quickly as he turns a page.

“Oh, just give it a chance,” Fairy Godmother says encouragingly. “You might like it,” she sing-songs. Hayden finally looks up at her with a completely blank face.

“Do I look like someone that plays well with others?” he deadpans. “Or even plays at all?”

Before she can answer, Jay pipes up. “You know what?” he asks rhetorically. “I think Hayden should definitely join us, right Carlos?” he nudges the boy.

“Yeah,” Carlos quickly agrees. “Who knows, you just might like it,” he adds as they both turn towards the pale boy with big smiles. As Fairy Godmother brightly agrees and mentions having someone come by to show them the way to the field, Hayden gives the two of them his best death glare which is, for obvious reasons, very effective.

Their class finishes rather quickly after that and the three boys find themselves waiting outside the study lounge’s doors as the girls make their way elsewhere for their free period. Evie wishes them luck and Mal snickers at the dark look Hayden still has on his face.

“Who did Fairy Godmother say was showing us the field?” Carlos asks. Jay shrugs, not really caring, while Hayden rolls his eyes and runs a hand through his curls.

“Probably Princey himself,” he says. “He seemed eager to be helpful. And to get away from that horrible little attachment of his,” he adds thoughtfully. They both nod in agreement.

“Man, she seemed even worse than the clingier girls on the Isle,” Jay marvels. Carlos snorts in amusement.

“If that’s what Auradon’s looking at for a future queen then they should be thanking us,” he says quietly, wary of any listening ears. Before they can say anymore, the prince in question turns into the hallway and starts in their direction, already wearing some kind of yellow and blue uniform.

“Speak of the devil,” Jay mutters, dodging the hit Hayden immediately aims at his shoulder for the saying.

“Hey, guys!” Ben says with a grin as he reaches them. “Fairy Godmother said you wanted to try out for tourney?” he asks, still smiling. Jay and Carlos agree while Hayden shakes his head.

“Hayden, you sure you don’t want to try out too?” Ben asks him brightly.

Hayden gives him a blank look. “It’s not happening,” he says bluntly. “I don’t do sports or,” he eyes the bright Tourney uniform with a grimace, “color,” he finishes. Ben just looks amused.

“Not to mention the sunlight,” Carlos adds, eyeing the pale skin of his exposed forearms where his sleeves are pushed up.

“That reminds me,” Jay says as he reaches into his vest and pulls out a small bottle of sunscreen. “Evie said to make sure you put that on if you’re gonna be outside at all today. She said something about ‘ruining your porcelain skin with a sunburn’.” He shrugs as he tosses Hayden the bottle. He looks it over, reading the label.

“It doesn’t come any stronger?” he asks. Translation: You couldn’t steal anything stronger?

Ben leans over to read the label and raises one eyebrow. “I think SPF 100 is as strong as it gets,” he tells him. “That’s the brand Snow White uses, though, so you should be good,” he assures.

“She is almost as pale as a corpse,” Hayden says, “which is exactly what I’m going for.”

“Of course you are,” Jay drawls. Hayden just smirks at him.

“Well,” he says, “I’ll leave you boys to your sports.” He offers them a sloppy salute and heads down the hallway, planning to apply a coat of the sunscreen, because he knows better than to go against Evie where skincare is concerned, and find a way to spend his free period.

It doesn’t take long before Hayden finds himself in a relatively large garden with a fountain in the center. He looks at all the flowers around him and walks slowly over to a tall plant.

Hollyhock, he remembers as he gently runs his fingers across the dark maroon, almost black, petals. He watches the way the petals seem to almost curl around his fingers, the way the plant seems to grow just a bit taller, like it’s a little healthier, and feels something in his chest clench.

There aren’t really any flowers on the Isle. The only plants there are poisonous or thorny or otherwise dangerous. The closest he ever gets to flowers is his mother’s garden in the Underworld. During spring and summer, during the three days a week he gets to be there, Hayden is the one to take care of her plants.

It’s also the closest he ever gets to his mother.

He looks around at the other flowers and mentally names each one as he goes to sit on the edge of the fountain. Roses. Carnations. Primrose. Honeysuckle.

Hayden leans his elbows on his knees, hands hanging loose between his legs, and looks down at the bright green grass at his feet. He thinks about the way the hollyhock reacted to him and knows that he didn’t do it on purpose. He can’t. For all that he tends the Underworld’s garden, those plants are different. The soil itself is inherently different.

He knows how to control his powers over the dead. He knows how the Underworld works. He knows how to throw a funeral in hundreds of different cultures. He knows all of this because Hades has been able to teach him.

Persephone has never had the opportunity to personally teach her son anything.

Hades does his best. After all, for every book Hayden is given to study on funeral rites or embalming, he also receives one on flower meanings or herb uses. For all that he tries, though, Hades is god of the Underworld, not of springtime. He specializes in death and souls, not in life and growth.

Of course, most people, especially the residents of Auradon, are uncomfortable with all manners involving death. This includes Hayden himself.

Hayden has always leaned more towards his father’s powers and habits than his mother’s, for the little that he knows of them. He doesn’t know if it’s just a natural inclination or if it’s the result of being so cut off from the other aspect of his powers.

Regardless, he’s comfortable with the Underworld and the dead, even if no one else seems to be. That doesn’t mean he can’t wonder if he might be comfortable with a real garden and plants as well.

The sound of a bell interrupts Hayden’s thoughts. He rolls his eyes and slowly stands up from the fountain. In absolutely no hurry to deal with anymore of Auradon, Hayden slinks back into the school hallways, smirking as he sees how the hurrying students actively swerve to avoid him.

He’s got an anatomy class to attend that he’s actually kind of looking forward to. After all, what could these Auradonians possibly think they could teach Hades’ son about the human body?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took me a little longer than I hoped, but here's the next chapter! Like I said, I'm making some changes to the plot. Frankly, I find it ridiculous (ha!) that the boys were expected to just automatically want to play a sport. Hayden is not interested.  
We got to see more of Hayden noticing the flaws with so-called 'perfect' Auradon. I mean, was I the only one that found it weird that the VKs were being taught in an open room where anyone could see/hear them?   
Next time we get to see how Hayden's anatomy class goes. Hint: think about how Evie's chemistry class went. We're also gonna learn a little more about Hayden and Harry's relationship.  
Let me know what you thought and any ideas you might have!


	6. Chapter 6

It doesn’t take long for Hayden to find the right classroom. As soon as he walks in heads turn and several students seem to shrink down in their chairs as they see who exactly is in their class. There’s a mousy-haired woman standing at the front of the room, organizing papers on her desk.

She has a stern face as she turns toward him but nervously adjusts her glasses as she speaks. “Ah, yes, the new student,” she says. “Just take a seat right there, young man.” She gestures at an empty seat in the back corner of the room as she says it.

Hayden raises one eyebrow with an amused smirk. “Back of the room,” he murmurs, just loud enough to make sure people can hear him. “I’m not surprised,” he adds.

He gives the teacher, Ms. Franklin from her nameplate, a pointed look. He knows she simply wants him as far from her as possible and, by the way she quickly turns to her blackboard and avoids eye contact, she knows it.

He doesn’t say anything else, just glides between a row of desks to reach his own. He slouches into the seat, long legs stretched out beneath it as he drops his black bag at his side. His golden eyes are half-lidded in boredom as they scan the room.

Most people are sure to avoid even looking in his direction but there’s an Asian girl with a black bob at the desk closest to him who actually gives him a small smile. Hayden finds himself a little surprised at the gesture but doesn’t show it, facing the front of the room as Ms. Franklin clears her throat and begins the lesson.

Five minutes in, Hayden finds himself both endlessly amused and bored to death. It seems that they’re covering the skeletal system at the moment, a system he’s had memorized since he was six.

After all, skeletons and bones are right up his alley.

The amusement stems mainly from the way that the Auradonians choose to study the human body. There are several large posters of different sections of the skeleton hanging on the blackboard.

It’s not really all that surprising, Hayden thinks.

He certainly can’t imagine any of these prissy little Auradon citizens touching an actual bone. He doubts any of them have ever even seen a dead body that wasn’t perfectly preserved and lying in a casket.

He watches for a few minutes as multiple students are called up and asked to locate specific bones. Radius, tibia, clavicle…

Deciding there’s no point in paying attention to a lesson he already knows, Hayden pulls out his book and resumes reading. He doesn’t get through more than three pages before his name is called. He finishes his paragraph before finally looking up. Ms. Franklin is giving him a stern look, not quite a glare but no other word really seems to fit.

“Since you seem to think your book is so much more important than my lesson, why don’t you come up to the board?” She phrases it like a question for all that he knows it’s not. Everyone in the room knows it’s not one.

Hayden slowly closes his book as he stands gracefully from his seat. He slinks his way to the front of the room, paying no mind to the way the other students lean away as he passes by them.

He stands in front of the blackboard, his face completely blank and bright golden eyes fixed on the teacher.

Ms. Franklin shifts nervously on her feet before she seems to remember why she called on him and regains her bravado. “I’d like you to locate the castar fluctuantes,” she tells him. She smirks as she says it, clearly believing he’ll have no idea what she means.

Unfortunately for her, Hayden is fluent in multiple languages and that includes Latin.

Hayden points at the lower portion of the skeleton’s rib cage with no hesitation. “The floating ribs,” he says. “The eleventh and twelfth rib pairs on the human body. They’re described as ‘floating’ because they’re not actually attached to the sternum or cartilage of the sternum. Rather, they’re attached directly to the vertebrae. Their main purpose is to protect vital organs, such as the kidneys.”

He looks her directly in the eyes as he speaks and, when he’s finished, there’s a stunned silence that permeates the room. Ms. Franklin’s eyes are wide behind her glasses as she opens and closes her mouth wordlessly.

“I know bones,” Hayden says pointedly with a judgmental eyebrow raised. “I suppose that ruins your little plan to ask me a question I’d have no idea how to answer and thereby humiliate me in front of everyone, hm?” he asks rhetorically. 

She flushes at being so blatantly called out and, just as unnerved as everyone else in the room seems, quietly tells him he can return to his seat.

Hayden turns on his heel with a smirk and glides back to his desk, noticing as he does a pair of redheads in the middle row that look completely amused at what just happened. He slouches down in his seat as soon as he gets there, long legs once again stretched out beneath him. He reopens _The History of Death _and picks up where he left off.

No one bothers him for the rest of the class.

When the bell rings to signal the end of class, Hayden takes his time leaving the room. He’s in no hurry to get back to the hallways full of Auradonians that seem to think even being in his presence invites death.

Don’t get him wrong, it’s fun to see them all so worried and panicked. It just starts to get old after a while.

To his surprise, there are two students that apparently have no problem coming near him. As soon as he walks out of the classroom, he hears a call from a nearby row of lockers.

“Hayden!” He turns towards the voice and sees that it came from one half of the redheads he’d noticed before.

The speaker, a short girl with long fiery curls, gestures him over. Curious despite himself, he makes his way to them. He’s just in time to see the other half, a boy with similarly ginger curls that could only be her brother, smack her lightly on the shoulder.

“What was that fer?” she asks.

“Yeh can’t just go orderin’ around people yeh don’t know,” he tells her. 

Their Scottish accents remind him of Harry in a way that is both comforting and mildly painful.

Not that he misses the pirate. Of course not.

The girl just waves a dismissive hand as Hayden comes to a stop in front of them.

“Moira and Madoc,” she introduces first herself and then her brother. “Twins of Merida,” she adds, as if the hair and accent weren’t enough of a hint already.

“Hayden, son of Hades,” he says with a smirk. They obviously know who he is. “There a reason you called me over here?”

Moira nods as she adjusts the strap of her brown messenger bag. “Just wanted to tell yeh that it was brilliant the way yeh called out Franklin in there,” she says.

“Aye,” Madoc agrees with a firm nod. “She had no place tryin’ somethin’ like that.”

Hayden cocks one curious eyebrow. “You two sure you should be saying that out in the open? Wouldn’t want the public to see you associating with the devil’s son,” he adds, loud enough that the students who have stopped to eavesdrop and stare are sure to hear it. More than one of them flushes and continues on their way.

Madoc flicks his mop of curls out of his eyes. “Oh, they’re not too fond of us either,” he tells him casually. At Hayden’s questioning look he elaborates. “Mum wasn’t married, still isn’t actually. She found a donor to have us.”

“Ah,” Hayden says in understanding. “Doesn’t quite fit the fairy tale formula, does it?” he muses.

“Mm-hm,” Moira agrees sardonically. “And they’re all about the fairy tale in Auradon. Anyway,” she says, “just wanted to let yeh know yeh’ve got at least two people on yer side.”

“Oh, Auradonians that actually admit there’s still sides to all of this despite ‘not focusing on the past’,” he says mockingly with an amused smirk.

The twins laugh at that. “They’ll have to get over themselves eventually,” Madoc tells him. “And, hey, I know one more person on yer side: Angie,” he says, giving his sister a pointed look. Hayden watches in mild amusement as the girl immediately flushes red.

“And just who is that?” he asks.

“Tiana and Naveen’s daughter,” Madoc tells him before grinning at Moira. “I’m sure Moira here can tell yeh all about her,” he adds.

“Well, we’ve got to get goin’,” Moira says loudly as she starts to pull her brother away, blatantly ignoring his teasing. “See yeh around, Hayden.”

He watches for a moment as they walk down the hallway, two distinctive heads of wild ginger curls in a sea of carefully styled blonds and brunets, before making his own way through the school.

Maybe there is some hope for the Isle citizens, he thinks. After all, the older generation obviously isn’t interested in doing anything about it. It’s good to know that the younger ones might just be open to fixing the past’s mistakes and ending their prejudices.

Hayden stops as he comes across a vending machine. Unable to resist, he pulls out some coins that Jay had slipped him earlier that day. In just a few seconds, he’s holding a small bottle of pomegranate juice.

If there’s one thing besides his hair that he’s inherited from his mother, it’s her love of this particular fruit.

He twists open the cap and goes to take a sip, continuing down the hall towards Mal where she’s standing at her locker, when he hears an unfortunately familiar voice.

“But with my mom, the evil fairy was just the evil fairy,” Audrey says. “That girl’s mother,” she whispers, nodding her head in Mal’s direction. It’s about that time Audrey sees him. “Not to mention, everyone knows that Hades kidnapped Persephone,” she continues, slightly louder just to make sure he hears.

Ben glances at Hayden, who only raises an eyebrow as he takes a sip of his juice, and immediately protests. “Audrey, you know that was a rumor Lady Demeter made up. Lady Persephone willingly ate the fruit and married Lord Hades,” he tells her.

Hayden can appreciate the way he makes sure to use their titles.

The prissy looking blond beside them, Charming Junior by his jacket, scoffs. “Yeah, right. He probably forced her to say she was willing just to make himself look a little better. Come on, who would _want_ to stay in the Underworld half the year?”

That’s when Hayden speaks up.

“Say what you want Charming, but at least my father didn’t fail to recognize someone just because she changed her dress,” Hayden tells him. He ignores Chad’s indignant gasp and looks at Audrey. “He also didn’t go around kissing people in their sleep,” he says with a judgmental look. Audrey’s jaw drops as Hayden continues on his way, throwing Ben a sloppy two-finger salute as he passes him.

“Ben!” Audrey shrieks from behind him. “Aren’t you going to do anything? Didn’t you hear what he said about my dad?” she asks. He can _hear_ the annoying pout in her voice.

“Yeah, I did. Just like I heard what you said about his,” Ben tells her, obviously disappointed. “I think you’re wrong about them,” he adds. “I’ll see you later.”

“Nice,” Mal says with a smirk as Hayden joins her at her locker.

He smirks back. “Did I lie?” he asks lightly and Mal just chuckles.

Ben joins them just as she slams her locker door closed. “Hey!” the prince says, his eyes locked solely on Mal.

“Hey,” she says back.

“How was your first day?” Ben asks. Mal looks upward for a second like she’s thinking about it.

“Super,” she drawls sarcastically. Hayden leans back against the locker a couple down from Mal’s, content to drink his juice and watch the little train wreck unfold in front of him.

Ben glances over at the green and purple silhouette of Maleficent that Mal had spray-painted. “You should really think of taking this talent off the locker and into art class,” he tells her. “I could, uh, sign you up. What do you think?”

Before Mal can answer, Jane comes walking by. She gives a by-now familiar squeak as she walks past Mal. Her eyes widen when she sees Hayden and she speeds up her pace.

Mal follows her with her eyes before she turns back to the prince. “Way to take all the fun out of it,” she tells him with a smirk. With that, she turns on her heel and follows after Jane. She gives Hayden a pointed look as she goes, and he knows she’s going to try and get some information on the wand from the girl.

“Huh,” Hayden hears Ben murmur as he leans back against the lockers, apparently lost in thought. He watches for a moment before he decides to break him out of his little daydream.

“You alright there, Princey?” Hayden asks the dazed boy. Ben looks at him with wide eyes.

“Of course, I am. I mean, why wouldn’t I be?” he asks nervously with a light blush on his cheeks.

Hayden hums skeptically. “You know, I’ve seen more than one besotted fool of a soul come into the Underworld,” he says pointedly. “I recognize the look.” Ben just clears his throat and shakes his head, apparently deep in denial.

“How, uh, how is the Underworld?” Ben asks awkwardly, clearly trying to change the subject.

“Just fine. You know, a little dark, a little gloomy, and as always, hey, full of dead people,” Hayden says with a nonchalant shrug. “What are you gonna do?” he asks rhetorically.

Ben just stares at him for a second, mouth moving wordlessly as he tries to figure out how to respond. No one ever seems to know what to do when he says things like that.

Well, except Harry. Harry, without missing a beat, had just made a quip about overpopulation.

Charitably, Hayden saves him from coming up with a response. “Look,” he says seriously, “I get that you seem to like Mal.” When Ben goes to protest, he just holds up one hand to stop him. “That being said, you’ve still got a girlfriend. I know Mal can take care of herself, but she and Evie might as well be my sisters.”

Hayden gives him a glare and Ben gulps as those golden eyes seem to glow.

“So,” Hayden continues, “you better figure out what you want. If you want to try anything with Mal then she’s the only one. She’s not some side piece while Sleeping Beauty Junior gets to play future queen. Got it?”

Ben nods. “Got- got it,” he stammers.

The smile Hayden gives him is actually closer to a baring of teeth that wouldn’t look out of place on Cerberus. “Glad we’ve got an understanding,” he murmurs.

Hayden turns to walk away before he pauses and looks back over his shoulder. “Oh, and Ben?” he calls. The prince gives him a questioning and still slightly nervous look. “This little conversation never happened,” he tells him.

Ben relaxes a little and nods with a slight smile of his own. “Right,” he confirms.

Hayden nods back and walks away. After a moment of thought he starts towards Mal and Evie’s dorm. Mal should be finished with Jane by now and he’s curious if her labors bore any fruit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we go! This chapter was a little harder because most of it was original plot for Hayden's story rather than straight from the movie.  
The anatomy class thing was definitely inspired by Evie's chemistry class. The thing is, Hayden's not afraid to call these Auradonians out on their behavior in front of everybody.  
I figured Hayden needed at least a couple of Auradonians that were okay around him and, well, I really like Brave. I couldn't see Merida getting married though, so that's where the twins' backstory comes in. Plus, that helps them understand the alienation that the VKs face.  
Angie will probably actually show up later as well. (By the way, her full name is actually Evangeline. What better name for the daughter of Tiana and Naveen?)  
Let me know what you thought and anything you might like to see/read!


	7. Chapter 7

Hayden reaches the girls’ dorm room in what seems like no time at all. He gets a few suspicious looks from other students as he makes his way to the door, but an almost too wide smile is enough to send them scurrying about their own business.

He knocks lightly on the door and waits patiently as Mal no doubt decides whether it’s worth opening and possibly having to talk with someone. Eventually, she does open the door, more than likely prompted by Evie.

“It’s just Hayden,” she calls over her shoulder to the blue-haired girl. He gives her a sarcastic smile.

“How polite,” he remarks lightly. Mal just scoffs and rolls her eyes, not quite managing to hide her own smile as she crosses back over to one of the beds, picking up her sketchbook and resuming her newest drawing.

“Hi, Hayden,” Evie calls brightly. She’s seated in front of a sewing machine, her hands confident and sure as she sews a piece of blue leather.

Hayden closes the door behind him and looks around the girls’ room, this being the first time he’s seen it. He mentally compares it to the boys’ room as well as his own and actually snorts out loud. Mal and Evie shoot him curious looks, silently asking for an explanation.

“Auradon is really sexist,” he explains. “Everything in here is pink and flowery and, well, traditionally feminine.” He points at the sewing machine Evie’s been enjoying. “Like, did they know that Evie sews? No. They didn’t. They just put that in here because you two are girls.”

Mal nods in agreement while Evie gives him a look that says she sees it too, but they shouldn’t say it out loud.

“They’re just a little traditional,” she says delicately. Mal and Hayden give her matching dubious looks.

“I suppose that’s one way to put it,” he drawls. “So much for not focusing on the past, huh?” Evie just purses her perfectly painted lips and goes back to her new dress.

“Auradon Prep,” Mal announces dramatically. “Hypocrisy doesn’t get any more obvious,” she finishes dully.

Hayden snickers, willfully ignoring Evie’s disapproving glance. “So, how’d it go with Jane?” he asks Mal.

Mal sends him a pleased smirk. “She should be asking Fairy Godmother about the wand right about now. All I had to do was change her hair.”

Hayden hums thoughtfully. “A new hairstyle, huh? These Auradonians are so petty, so shallow,” he muses. “Well, most of them,” he adds, thinking about a certain pair of Scottish twins.

At the curious looks his comment earns, he tells them about what happened in his class and the little conversation he had afterwards. While they seem intrigued by the idea of people that seemingly won’t judge them by their parents, they also look endlessly amused as soon as he mentions who Moira and Madoc’s mother is.

“Why am I not surprised you made friends with Queen Merida’s kids?” Evie comments.

“What do you mean?” he asks. Mal cocks one eyebrow in his direction.

“You managed to find the only kids in this school with a Scottish accent,” she says. “Remind you of anyone?”

“Oh, shut up,” he tells her, resolutely ignoring the blush he can feel in his cheeks and silently cursing his pale complexion for showing it so well. “That is just a coincidence.”

Before either of them can respond, they hear a knock at the door. Evie gestures for Hayden to answer it while Mal gestures for him to do nothing. Rolling his eyes, he goes over and opens the door, stepping back so the girls can see who it is.

Standing in front of him is a pretty, dark-skinned girl with short curly hair and a plastic container of some kind in her hands. She gives them a bright smile. “Hi,” she greets cheerfully. “I’m Evangeline but just call me Angie. I’m Tiana and Naveen’s daughter,” she tells them.

She speaks with an accent similar to what he can remember from Dr. Facilier’s guest lectures at their old school but a little slower and, from what he can tell, with a certain note of happiness in every word.

“Hi,” Hayden drawls, wondering why she’s here. Apparently able to tell, Angie quickly explains herself.

“Moira mentioned that you had a spot of trouble in y’all’s anatomy class,” she tells him before she frowns a little and shakes her head. “No, wait, that makes it sound like it was your fault. I should say that Ms. Franklin had some trouble with behavin’ proper,” she says firmly.

Hayden looks at Mal and Evie only to see the surprise he feels mirrored on their faces. Even after meeting the twins it’s still a bit of a shock to meet an Auradonian who seems to honestly have no prejudice against them.

Angie turns toward Evie. “And, well, I was in Mr. Deley’s chemistry class,” she tells her. “It seems to me that y’all are havin’ a bit of a rough time of things.”

“We’re fine,” Mal says stiffly. “We can handle anything Auradon has to throw at us.”

Angie gives her a soft smile. “I’m sure you can. That doesn’t mean you should have to though.” She holds out the container in her hands. “So, I baked y’all some cookies. I thought it might make you feel a bit better.”

Hayden slowly takes the cookies, naturally wary of freely offered food. Multiple stories have shown that something so seemingly innocent can actually be extremely dangerous, two of the most obvious being Snow White’s and, of course, Persephone’s.

Granted, Hayden can safely consume food and drink from the Underworld, but the point still stands.

Somehow, Angie seems even happier as he takes the container.

“Well, I’ll leave you to it then,” she says as she turns to leave. She gets one hand on the door before she pauses and turns back to them. “By the way, that’s my mama’s recipe, which means it’s also my granddaddy’s recipe,” she says. “So, ya’ll enjoy.” She gives them a playful wink and another bright smile as she steps out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Hayden turns on his heel and trades puzzled looks with Mal and Evie. He slowly sets the container of cookies down on the table and pulls off the lid.

“They don’t look like there’s anything magical about them,” he notes. “Then again, the cursed food never does, does it?”

“Leave them,” Mal says firmly. “I’ll see if I can find a spell to check in my book.” Hayden just nods and replaces the lid. He grabs one of the chairs at the table beside Evie’s and takes a seat, kicking his boots up on the tabletop and opening his own book: _The Instruments of Torture_.

All this time in bright and happy Auradon is making him miss the comforts of home. This particular book has all of the classics. Flogging, stretching, waterboarding, the iron maiden, and more.

He can almost hear the distant screams from the Fields of Punishment.

Mal’s had time to test the cookies, which apparently _are _just cookies, and he’s read through a few chapters when there’s another knock at the door. Completely done with all the visitors they’re getting, Mal doesn’t even bother to tell him to get the door.

“What?” she calls, loud enough whoever it is will be sure to hear.

At the call, Jane comes through the door, leaving it open behind her as she immediately begins ranting. “I’m sorry, Mal. Mom refused to bring out the wand. She refused to help me at all,” she says as she begins pacing between the two beds.

As she turns to start again, she gives that familiar little squeak when she catches sight of Hayden. He just sends her a smirk, still endlessly amused by her fear.

“So, no wand?” Mal asks with a frown, clearly displeased with her plans being delayed yet again.

“No,” Jane says with a shake of her head. Her pacing starts again as she speaks. “Mom said _if a boy can’t see the beauty within, he’s not worth it,”_ she mocks. “What kind of world does she live in?” she asks, falling onto the empty bed.

“Auradon,” Mal scoffs, kicking her feet slightly where she has them up in the air as she draws.

“You seem a bit too occupied with boys,” Hayden observes.

“You would know, Hayden,” Mal says, glancing up from her sketchbook.

“What do you mean?” he asks her. Mal and Evie both roll their eyes.

“Hook Junior,” Mal says simply.

Hayden rolls his own eyes in realization. “Harry is not my boyfriend,” he tells them for the hundredth time.

“He flirts with you all the time,” Evie reminds him with a pointed look, finishing a row of stitches as she does.

“That’s just Harry being Harry. He flirts with everyone, kinda like Jay.” The defense sounds weak to his own ears.

“Not like he flirts with you,” Evie insists as she goes back to working on her dress.

Jane looks at him with wide eyes, apparently forgetting her general discomfort at his presence. “You’re dating a pirate?” she asks.

“We are not dating,” Hayden says tiredly. There is no dating on the Isle.

Jane completely ignores him as she continues to ramble. “I’ll never get a boyfriend,” she complains.

“Boyfriends are overrated,” Mal tells her simply. That makes Evie look away from her dress.

“And how would you know, Mal?” she asks. “You’ve never had one,” she reminds her.

“I don’t need one, E,” Mal says through pursed lips. “They’re a waste of time.”

Evie suddenly gasps and jumps up from her seat. “I forgot to do Chad’s homework!” She hurried over to a tan backpack sitting against the wall. “Oh no. Oh no. Oh no.”

Hayden drops his book on the table and sits up straight. “Excuse him?” he says through gritted teeth. “You forgot just _what_, exactly?”

Evie explains as she pulls out various homework assignments. “Chad has too much work to do to hang out with me, so I’m taking care of it. That way he’ll have the free time.”

He sends a disbelieving look her way and, when she doesn’t even look away from the work, turns to Mal to see if she’s serious. Mal just gives him a tense smile and nods, the look in her eyes showing that she’s just as unhappy about this as he is.

“Evie, he’s using you,” he tells her. “He just wants you to do his work for him because he’s too spoiled and self-entitled to do it himself.”

“Chad is not using me,” Evie insists. “He wouldn’t do something like that. He’s a prince,” she says dreamily.

“He’s a guy,” Hayden tells her flatly. Evie ignores him as she starts on Chad’s work. Before he can try to get through to her again there’s a light knock on the still open door. They all look over to see who it is, and Hayden recognizes the Asian girl that had been in his anatomy class.

“Hey, guys,” she greets brightly. “I’m Lonnie. My mom’s Mulan?” She looks around like she’s trying to see if they recognize the name.

They do, of course. Mulan broke one of the biggest rules of her society when she disguised herself to join the Chinese army. The Isle residents don’t like the so-called heroes, but something like _that_ is something they can admire. Even Shan-Yu respects Mulan as a warrior.

There’s no need for them to know that though so Hayden just gives her a blank look when her eyes meet his.

“No?” Lonnie mutters. “Anyway, I love what you’ve done with Jane’s hair and I know you hate us and, well, you’re _evil_, but do you think you could do mine?” She looks directly at Mal as she asks. Hayden smirks at her bluntness.

How about that, he thinks, an Auradonian who flat out admits what we all know they think of us.

Already knowing where this is going, Hayden reopens his book and ignores the rest of the conversation. Sure enough, it’s not long before Lonnie leaves with Jane, both sporting a head of long wavy hair.

Hayden grins at Mal over the top of his book. “Little Dizzy would be so proud,” he coos mockingly. Mal immediately grabs the pillow off her bed.

“Shut up,” she snaps, fighting back a smile as she flings it at his head. Hayden just dodges with a cackle.

It’s about that time that Carlos comes through the door. He actually closes it behind him and as he turns, they all see what he has in his arms.

“Carlos, is that a dog?” Evie asks in surprise.

Carlos beams at them. “Yeah, it is. His name is Dude,” he tells them, scratching behind the little mutt’s ears.

Hayden examines the scruffy dog in Carlos’ arms. “Bit smaller than I’m used to,” he comments.

Carlos raises his eyebrows. “I think any dog is smaller than the one you’re used to,” he tells him. Hayden just tips his head in his direction.

“Aye,” he agrees. Carlos gives him a look that he resolutely ignores, refusing to acknowledge where he’d picked up that particular expression, or rather, _who_ he’d picked it up from. When the white-haired boy just keeps looking at him, Hayden sends him a glare. “Shut up.”

“I didn’t say anything,” Carlos claims as he takes a seat on the floor, smirking as he leans back against Mal’s bed with Dude in his lap.

“You didn’t have to,” Hayden tells him. When he opens his mouth to respond Hayden just holds up one pale hand. “Not another word, Freckles.”

Thankfully, Carlos doesn’t get a chance to say anything else. Jay comes through the door, posing and showing off his new jersey, quickly drawing his attention.

“Hey!” Carlos greets. “You made the team?” Jay just nods with a bright smile.

“Obviously,” Hayden says. “It _is_ a full-contact sport.” They all know Jay excels at physical activities, especially violent ones. He looks at Jay with a too-wide smile. “How many of the little princes were complaining about bruises?”

Jay smirks back at him. “Oh, a few. Mainly Charming,” he tells him.

“Excellent.”

Jay cocks one eyebrow. “There a reason we’re apparently against him in particular?” he asks curiously.

Hayden glances pointedly over at where Evie is still working on the spoiled prince’s homework. “I’ll tell you later,” he assures. Jay’s dark eyes harden as he catches the look.

If Charming Junior has hurt one of the girls in any way, then he’ll be more than happy to target him out on the field. He gives Hayden an understanding nod and they both pretend not to notice the exasperated eyeroll that Mal and Evie share.

Carlos grins as he sees it too. After all, he knows Hayden and Jay would do the same if it was him.

“Anyway,” Jays says as he leans against the bedpost and looks over toward Mal, “how’d things go with Jane? You gonna see the wand?”

Mal rolls her eyes in irritation. “Do you think I’d be going through every spell in this book if I hadn’t completely struck out?” she asks through gritted teeth.

“Someone’s in a bad mood,” Carlos mutters. Mal immediately reaches out and thumps him on the head.

“My mom is counting on me!” she stresses. “I can’t let her down.”

“Good luck with that,” Hayden drawls. He gets a fierce green glare in response and just sends her a bored look. They both know Maleficent will never be satisfied no matter what Mal does.

“We can do this!” Jay tells them. “We just have to stick together.” Hayden looks at him curiously. It seems like Auradon really is starting to get to them.

“And we won’t go back until we do,” Mal agrees. “Because we’re rotten…”

“To the core,” she, Evie, Jay, and Carlos finish. Hayden can’t help but notice that it lacks their usual enthusiasm and proud inflection.

“Oh, yeah,” Evie recalls as she sits back down at the table. “I found out that Fairy Godmother blesses Ben with the wand at the coronation and we all get to go,” she says casually.

While the other three look at her incredulously for failing to mention that before, Hayden scoffs. “Oh, of course. Just bring out one of the most powerful magical items in the mortal world for a televised event. I’m sure it will be perfectly safe,” he says sarcastically.

“Uh, Hayden?” Carlos says hesitantly. “You do remember that we _want_ the wand to be out in the open, right?”

Hayden rolls his eyes as he stands up. “Yes, I remember. I just hate that Auradon’s royal court is so incompetent. I mean, why are they even putting a sixteen-year-old on the throne anyway? Why are all of those magical artifacts sitting in a museum to start with? Then, of course, there’s the whole Isle situation.” The other four exchange glances as they see the way he’s starting to get worked up.

“Speaking of, don’t even get me started on the fact that _King_,” he says the word as mockingly as possible, “Beast and his little council made my father resurrect multiple villains just so they could be imprisoned.”

“Okay, we won’t get you started,” Mal says, trying to head him off before he could really get going.

“I think it’s too late for that,” Jay mutters.

Hayden starts to pace back and forth, steadily getting more and more agitated. “Do they even realize what that did?” he asks rhetorically. “No. They don’t. They don’t care about the balance of death. They don’t care that they completely went against the Ancient Laws of the Underworld.”

“It’s definitely too late,” Carlos tells them.

“I mean, you can’t just go bringing people back to life. Orpheus tried and look what happened there,” the godling continues.

“Hayden,” Evie says softly. He doesn’t appear to even hear her, still pacing and ranting.

“Do these people not read? Do they not know their history?” he hisses through gritted teeth.

“Hayden,” Evie tries again, slightly louder.

“Do they-“

“Hayden!” the four of them yell together.

“WHAT?” he screams, throwing his arms up and swiftly turning on his heel to look at them.

“Calm down, bro,” Jay tells him. “You’re starting to spark up,” he adds, gesturing at the boy’s black curls and the blue flames that are beginning to appear within them. Hayden glances up and takes a deep breath, running his hands through his hair to snuff out the fire.

“I’m fine. I’m fine. I’m cool. I’m fine,” he says calmly. He gets four doubtful looks in reply before they all turn at a knock on the door.

“Stay chill,” Mal tells him as she gets up to open the door, muttering under her breath about finding a spell to keep people away from her room. The prince is standing on the other side and he immediately brightens when he sees her.

“Hey, Mal,” Ben greets. “I didn’t really see you guys today, so I was just wondering if you had any questions or if there was anything you needed?”

Mal looks back at them in question and they all just shake their heads. “Not that I know of…” she tells him.

“Okay. Alright. Well, if you need anything…” Ben trails off as he goes to leave.

“Oh, wait!” Mal suddenly says. Ben immediately turns to look at her, his expression that of an eager puppy. Hayden shakes his head at the love-struck boy. “Is it true that we all get to go to your coronation?” Mal asks.

“Yeah, the whole school goes,” Ben confirms.

“Wow, that is beyond exciting.” Mal’s fake enthusiasm fools nobody but the prince. “Do you think it’s a possibility that the five of us could stand in the front row, next to Fairy Godmother, just so we could soak up all that goodness?”

“I wish you could,” Ben says, looking genuinely sorry. “Up front it’s just me, my folks, and my girlfriend,” he continues.

“Your girlfriend?” Mal repeats. Hayden can practically see the gears turning in her head.

“Yeah, I’m sorry,” Ben apologizes.

“Okay, well, thanks. Bye,” Mal says quickly. Ben tries to say something else, but she closes the door in his face before he can.

The purple-haired girl turns on her heel to face them with a wicked smirk on her lips. “I think it’s time that Bennyboo got himself a new girlfriend. And I need a love spell.” She claps her hands and gestures at Carlos. He quickly grabs her spell book and tosses it to her with his own smirk.

Hayden cackles as he crosses over to the table and opens Angie’s container of cookies. “And_ I_ think I know just how to give it to him,” he drawls, holding up one of the cookies.

Mal shoots him a grin as she flips through her book while Jay and Carlos share a high-five.

“Well,” Evie says delicately as she taps one perfectly manicured nail against the apple-shaped charm on her necklace, “I suppose you can’t go wrong with the classics.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, yes. The good old 'hide the potion/spell in food' trick. You think the Auradonians would be a little more wary of that one, huh?  
Hayden is definitely in denial about Harry and I'm really enjoying it, to be honest. Also, I love just letting him point out everything that Auradon and especially the royal council does wrong. Seriously, why was a sixteen-year-old being crowned king? I mean, it worked out, yeah, but seriously?!?  
Plus, that 'ressurecting dead villains just to imprison them' thing never sat well with me, especially in the book where it is explicitly stated that they did just that.  
Let me know what you thought and anything you might like to see/read!


	8. Chapter 8

They wait until night fall, just before curfew to be safe, to sneak into the kitchens. Mal, Evie, Carlos, and Jay make their way into the room while Hayden takes the time to do one more perimeter check.

After all, he can blend into the shadows better than anyone but his own father. If there’s anyone around who won’t approve of or trust them being in the kitchen, which is basically everyone in Auradon, he’ll be able to warn the others without being seen.

Content that the coast is clear, Hayden quickly slinks through the shadows back to the kitchen. “Alright, we’re good,” he says as the door swings shut behind him. He makes his way to where the others are gathered at the counters and comes to an abrupt halt.

He notices with amusement that Jay and Carlos are actually sitting _on_ one of the counters, three guesses who they picked that habit up from, but it’s the form between the two of them that makes him pause.

“Why is the dog sitting in a bowl?” Hayden asks blankly.

Carlos looks at Dude, looks at Hayden, looks back at Dude, then looks back at Hayden with a shrug. “He likes it,” he answers simply.

There’s a beat of silence as Hayden just stares at him. “Fair enough,” he says finally. “Who am I to judge someone for sitting somewhere they shouldn’t?” 

“The last person who ever should,” Evie tells him with a smirk. Hayden smirks back at her as he leans on the counter beside where the girls are pouring over the spell book.

“Alright,” Mal says as she scans the page. “It says that we need one tear and I never cry.”

“None of us do,” Hayden remarks with a frown. This does make things a bit more difficult.

“Let’s just chop up some onions,” Carlos offers as he grabs one from the bowl sitting beside him.

“No,” Mal denies, shaking her head. “It says that we need one tear of human sadness and this love potion gets the best reviews, so we have to follow it exactly.”

Hayden raises a dubious eyebrow. “Maleficent’s spell book comes with reviews?”

Mal shrugs. “Kinda. My mom wrote comments in the margins. This one has the least complaints and critiques.” Hayden nods in understanding.

“A tear’s a tear,” Jay complains.

“That’s not true, Jay. They both have antibodies and enzymes, but an emotional tear has more protein-based hormones than a reflex tear,” Evie explains confidently.

Mal and Hayden exchange a proud look. “Listen to you,” Mal says, all three of them ignoring Carlos and Jay’s little scuffle on the counter.

“Our little genius,” Hayden half teases.

“Stop it you two,” Evie tells them even as she lifts her head a little with pride.

It’s then that the kitchen door opens and a familiar girl steps in. “There you are, Mal!” Lonnie says. “I was looking for you.”

“I thought you said we were good,” Jay hisses as Mal quickly covers the spell book.

“We were,” Hayden mutters back. “Now we’re not.”

“You know, all the girls want you to do their hair,” Lonnie continues as she makes her way over to their countertop. “Oh, midnight snack, huh? What are you guys making?”

“Oh, nothing special,” Mal waves off. “Just cookies.” Her eyes widen in panic as Lonnie reaches forward to taste the dough. “Oh, no, no!”

“Wait!” Carlos calls. Lonnie gives them a confused look as she pulls her finger from her mouth.

“What?” she asks. “It’s not like I’m going to double dip.”

“Feel anything?” Evie asks nervously.

“Yeah, like it might be missing something?” Mal adds.

Hayden looks at Jay and tilts his head in Lonnie’s direction with a pointed look. Jay nods back and smoothly slides off the counter.

Jay walks over to Lonnie and leans one arm against a storage rack, tucking his hair behind his ear and giving her a charming smile. “Hey there,” he says in the exact tone that had led to more than one girl on the Isle getting pickpocketed while they were distracted.

Hayden sighs in relief when Lonnie just gives him an awkward smile, clearly unaffected by any love potions.

“It could use some chips,” she tells them.

“Chips?” Jay repeats quietly in confusion.

“And those are?” Mal asks as she goes back to stirring the cookie dough.

Hayden frowns as Lonnie crosses over to the fridge and pulls out a small bowl filled with chocolate chips. He knows what chocolate is, courtesy of spending time in the Underworld instead of being solely stuck on the Isle, but he’s never had much use for it.

After all, what use has he ever had for chocolate when his mother’s garden provides plenty of fruit to satisfy any sweet tooth?

“Chocolate chips,” Lonnie clarifies. “Just the most important food group.” She crosses back over to their counter and sets the bowl down beside the cookie dough. “Wait, didn’t your moms ever make you guys, like, chocolate chip cookies?”

She gets a confused and slightly uncomfortable look from every one of them as she drops a handful of chocolate into the cookies.

“Like, when you’re feeling sad,” Lonnie continues, “and they’re fresh from the oven with a big glass of milk and she just makes you laugh and puts everything into perspective and… why are you all looking at me like that?”

All five of them are staring at her like they’ve never even heard of such a thing before which, in all honesty, they haven’t. Their parents don’t do that sort of thing. Even Hayden, who undoubtedly has the best relationship with his parents, well, his father, finds the entire concept foreign and uncomfortable.

“It’s just different where we’re from,” Mal says dismissively as she goes back to stirring the cookies.

“Yeah, I know,” Lonnie tells them. “I just, you know, thought even villains love their kids...”

Hayden thinks he might actually see her heart break when she realizes the truth and can’t help but roll his eyes. These Auradonians are so _soft_.

“Oh, how awful,” she says quietly as she reaches out and puts one hand over Mal’s.

She’s a brave girl, Hayden thinks in amusement as he sees Mal’s freaked out face. Or maybe just foolish.

Nevertheless, Lonnie’s soft heart serves to give them the tear they need for the potion. Mal quickly adds it to the bowl.

“Yeah, well, bummer,” Mal says. “But we have to get these in the oven, so, thanks for stopping by. Really. Have a good night. I’ll see you tomorrow. Evil dreams.” She waves Lonnie out the door.

“Okay, well, good night,” Lonnie calls out as she leaves, clearly a little confused but willing to let it go.

Hayden glides over to the door to make sure she actually leaves. “Okay, we’re good,” he says after a moment.

“Right,” Mal says as she looks at the rest of them. “Boys, cookie sheet. Evie, oven.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Evie says she checks the book for the correct temperature while Jay and Carlos start looking for cookie sheets.

The next day Hayden stands with Mal at her locker, waiting for Ben to inevitably come by so she can slip him the potion. What seems like at least a quarter of the girls in the school make their way by and down the hall, calling praise and thanks to Mal for their new hair as they go.

“Lady Tremaine better watch out,” Hayden teases her. “You’re gonna run her shop right out of business.”

“Shut up,” Mal tells him as she opens her locker door. “Being… nice,” she says the word like it hurts, “keeps us from looking suspicious.”

Hayden hums in disbelief. “If you say so,” he tells her.

It’s then that Jay, Carlos, Evie, and Doug walk out of school. Jay makes his way over as the other three stop to discuss something in a textbook.

Jay leans against the locker next to them and looks right at Mal. “Are you feeling weird about this?” he asks. “I mean, it’s not so bad here, you know?”

Hayden cocks one eyebrow, not entirely surprised by the fact that the others seem to be getting comfortable in Auradon. He’s personally still not a fan. The place is too bright, too happy, and far too full of hypocrites for his liking. Still, given the alternative of the Isle he can see why they seem to be coming around. 

Mal on the other hand looks at him like he had just said the sky was green and grass was blue.

“Are you insane?” she asks. “Long live evil! You’re mean. You’re awful. You’re bad news.” She snaps sharply right in front of his face. “Snap out of it,” she tells him firmly.

Jay blinks like he’s coming out of a daze. “Thanks, Mal,” he says with a smile. “I needed that.” He pushes off the lockers and looks over to a crowd of girls gathered in the courtyard, charming thief’s smile already in place.

Hayden snorts as he sees it. “Found a new target already?” he asks in amusement.

Jay puts one hand to his chest like he’s offended. “Hayden, how could you insinuate such a thing? I would _never_.” He sends them a wink and makes his way over to the girls.

Hayden just shakes his head and looks at Mal. “You think they’d realize that they’re not just suddenly misplacing all their shiny jewelry,” he tells her.

Mal smirks back. “Let him have his fun,” she says. “Besides, it’s a good lesson in the real world for all the prissy princesses.”

“Speaking of prissy princesses…” Hayden says as he looks over at an annoyingly familiar voice. They both listen as Audrey complains about everyone’s new hair because, apparently, it’s ‘gateway magic’ and eventually everyone will be pretty and where does that leave her?

“That girl is so insecure,” Hayden mumbles. Mal nods in agreement as they watch her complain to Ben.

Jay, Carlos, and Evie all make their way over as they notice the prince. Mal pulls a little bag with the cookie out of her locker and slams it closed.

“Alright, Mal,” Hayden says. “Go and give him the cookie.”

Mal rolls her eyes with a groan. “Can’t one of you do it?” she asks them, not wanting to deal with a lovestruck prince (or so she says).

“It has to be you, Mal. You have to be the first person he sees after he eats it,” Evie reminds her.

“Plus,” Hayden adds, “I doubt anyone from Auradon is going to be accepting food from me anytime soon. Even you guys don’t.” He gets four amused looks in reply.

“That’s because you think it’s funny to offer people pomegranate,” Carlos deadpans. Hayden just gives him an unsettling smile.

“Everyone has their own sense of humor,” he says simply before pointing at Evie. “You should consider offering people apples,” he tells her. “Trust me. The reactions are so worth it.”

“I’m good,” Evie says dryly.

“Mal, just give him the cookie,” Carlos tells her. Mal sighs as she looks over in Ben’s direction and watches Audrey walk off.

“Alright, here I go,” she mutters. “Hey, Bennyboo,” she calls brightly as she starts in his direction.

Ben turns around and lights up at the sight of her. “Hey!” he greets as he meets her halfway.

“By the Fates,” Hayden murmurs as the four of them watch. “He has got it bad.”

“You sure we even need that cookie?” Jay asks in amusement.

“Never hurts to have a little reassurance,” Hayden reminds him.

They watch as Mal tries to get Ben to take the cookie. It looks for a second like it might not work before he quickly grabs it out of her hand and takes a bite, looking her right in the eyes the entire time.

“Go time,” Carlos mutters. They all make their way over, waiting for the effects to kick in.

“How are they?” Mal asks him.

Ben nods. “They’re good. They’re great! They’re amazing!” the prince starts to ramble as the potion starts to work. “They’re, uh, I mean, they’re chewy and, you know, they- are those walnuts? I love walnuts. I mean, uh, you know, the… chocolate… the chocolate…”

He trails off, looking into Mal’s eyes with a lovestruck smile.

“Mal, have your eyes always been so green?” he asks quietly. He goes to take another bite and Mal quickly takes the cookie away.

Jay steps up behind the dazed prince and puts both hands on his shoulders. “How you feelin’, bro?” he asks with a smirk.

“I feel… I feel… like singing your name,” Ben says. Mal’s eyes widen as she tosses the remaining cookie to Jay. “Mal!” Ben starts to sing.

Mal hurries forward and slaps a hand over his mouth to stop him. Carlos and Evie laugh while Jay stares at the cookie in amazement.

“Wow,” he breathes. “That is strong.”

Hayden smirks. “Trust me,” he drawls, thinking about a certain son of Zeus, “love makes fools of all these hero types.”

With a bit of work, and a promise from Mal that she would be in the stands, Jay and Carlos manage to get Ben to head to the tourney game. Unfortunately, that means Hayden also has to sit in the stands.

He simply pulls out a book and tries to ignore the disgustingly bright and cheerful crowd around him. Well, after Evie makes him put another layer of sunscreen on that is.

“Hey, guys,” Lonnie says as she takes a seat beside Mal.

“Hi, Lonnie!” Evie greets with a smile. “How’d you find us so fast?”

Lonnie just laughs a little. “You guys kinda stand out,” she says as she gestures at her own bright yellow dress and the rest of the crowd around them, all clad in some type of blue and/or yellow. “Especially you, Hayden,” she adds as she leans around to see him on the other side of Evie.

“I don’t do colors,” he says flatly.

“We know, Hayden,” Mal says with amusement.

The game goes on, Mal and Evie steadily getting dragged into the happy atmosphere while Hayden continues to read. He looks up only when Jay or Carlos are doing something.

“You could at least pretend to pay attention,” Evie tells him during some kind of break.

“Where are Jay and Carlos right now?” Hayden asks, not even bothering to look up from his book.

“They’re on the bench.”

“When that changes, I’ll pretend to watch the game,” he says as he turns his page. “Who knows?” he adds. “I might even really watch the game.”

“I doubt that,” Mal snorts.

Evie just sighs. “Still not into Tourney, huh?” she asks him.

“It doesn’t even have the best part of any game,” Hayden complains.

“What part is that?” Lonnie asks curiously. Hayden gives her an unsettling smile.

“Sudden death,” he says darkly. Mal and Evie share a fond look at his usual antics while Lonnie’s face falls as she suddenly looks a little worried.

Before Lonnie can figure out a response, they hear the announcer’s voice over the crowd. “He’s bringing in that hothead Jay from the Isle of the Lost and that little guy Carlos who can barely hold a shield.”

Hayden cackles at that description as he closes his book and sits up to pay attention. They watch as the team runs down the final forty seconds on the clock until Ben, through a surprising amount of teamwork from Carlos and Jay, scores the winning shot.

Mal covers her ears at the cheering crowd, which includes a squealing Evie and Lonnie, while Hayden just glowers at everybody.

The announcer starts to, well, announce when Ben grabs the microphone. “Excuse me. Excuse me. Can I have your attention please?” he asks. “There’s something I’d like to say.”

Hayden looks at Mal with a wide smile. “Oh, this should be good,” he drawls, completely ready to see what the love drunk Ben will do next.

“Give me an ‘M’!” Ben cries.

“M!” the crowd obliges.

“Give me an ‘A’!”

“A!”

“Give me an ‘L’!”

Hayden cackles at the look on Mal’s face as her mouth falls open in shock.

“What does that spell?” Ben asks.

“Mal!” the crowd yells back.

“Come on, I can’t hear you!”

“Mal!”

“I love you Mal,” Ben cries. “Did I mention that?”

Movement on the field catches Hayden’s eye as he finally stops laughing at Mal’s discomfort. He watches as Audrey runs off, nearly in tears from her boyfriend publicly declaring his love for another girl. “Huh,” he mutters to himself with a frown. “That’s almost Isle cruel.”

Not that declarations of love are a thing on the Isle, he thinks as he pushes a certain night with a certain pirate out of his mind.

“Give me a beat!” Ben tells the band.

“Is he singing?” Hayden asks rhetorically as he remembers Harry’s words before he left the Isle. “Why do we always end up singing?”

Sure enough, Ben goes through an entire embarrassing number complete with backup from the band, tourney team, cheerleaders, and crowd.

At the end, he crowd surfs his way right in front of Mal. He goes for a kiss which Mal quickly blocks with the jersey he had thrown her earlier in the song.

“I love you, Mal!” Ben says once again into the microphone. “Did I mention that?”

Hayden rolls his eyes at the repetition.

Suddenly, Audrey shows up beside them, dragging Chad along by the hand. “Chad’s my boyfriend now,” she declares. “We’re going to the coronation together, so I don’t need your pity date.” She kisses Charming Junior to make her point.

Oh, she can do better than him, Hayden can’t help but think.

Ben doesn’t even seem to hear her. “Mal, will you go to the coronation with me?” he asks.

“Yes,” Mal answers.

“She said yes!” Ben yells in excitement. The whole crowd cheers.

As Jay drags a still ecstatic Ben away for some kind of celebration with the team, Hayden notices Evie’s upset expression as she watches Audrey and Chad. He and Mal trade a look as they move to either side of the princess.

“You know, I feel really sorry for Audrey,” Mal tells her.

“You do?” Evie asks in surprise.

“I don’t,” Hayden interjects. Mal glares at him. “But I can see where you’re going with this,” he adds.

“Anyway,” Mal continues, “I just feel like if she was talented like you and knew how to sew and knew beauty tips then she wouldn’t need a prince to make her feel better about herself.”

Evie looks down at her heels with a small smile. “I guess I am kind of talented,” she admits.

“You are definitely gifted.”

“Thanks, M,” Evie tells her.

Hayden watches as Jay gets declared MVP. “And, hey,” he says, “if you want, I can always make a deal with Charming Junior.” He waves one ring adorned hand for emphasis. “He’s not all that bright so it shouldn’t take much, and his soul is mine.”

Evie just smiles. “Thanks, Hayden,” she tells him. “But let’s not take any souls. We’re trying to _not_ look suspicious.”

He shrugs. “Just let me know if you change your mind.”

Hayden groans as, later that day, Mal drags him along with Evie so she can help her get ready for her date.

“I don’t even know why you were so shocked that he asked you,” he points out, sitting on the table in their room with _101 Herbs and Their Uses _in hand as he watches Evie apply Mal’s makeup. “I mean, the boy is _literally_ under a love potion. Plus, he was infatuated before that anyway.”

“I’ve never exactly done this before, Hayden,” Mal snaps.

“You’re not helping,” Evie tells him as she brushes blush onto Mal’s cheeks.

“Hey, you two are the ones that dragged me here. I’d much rather be in my own room,” he reminds them.

They both roll their eyes as Evie sets down the brush. Hayden goes back to his book and tunes them out until they all hear a knock at the door.

Mal nervously goes to open it and is met with Ben who, as usual, seems speechless at the sight of her.

“For the first time, I understand the difference between pretty and beautiful,” the prince says quietly.

Hayden rolls his eyes. As pleased as he is that the little prince obviously cares about Mal, he can do without lines like that. “Okay. Okay. Get out of here you two,” he tells them. Mal shoots him a look as she takes the helmet Ben’s holding out for her. “Oh, and Ben?” he calls as they go to leave. “I’m sure you remember that little talk we had?”

Ben gulps as Hayden’s golden eyes seem to flash. “I- I do.”

“Good boy,” Hayden tells him with a too wide smile.

Hayden doesn’t stick around long. Evie has homework to do so he makes his way back to his own dorm, thankful for the darkness that greets him as he closes the door. Really, this place is far too bright.

He sprawls on the bed, trying to read his book, but he can’t seem to focus. He thinks about Ben’s little musical declaration of love and how he and Mal are on a date right now.

There is no dating on the Isle and there are certainly no declarations of love. Still, he can’t help but think about numerous nights spent on rooftops and sharing a bottle of pirate’s rum with Harry Hook.

He thinks about one night in particular, just a few months before he came to Auradon…

_Hayden watched the distant lights of Auradon, blurry through the thick fog. “You think we’ll ever actually see that place?” he asked._

_Harry took another swig of their pilfered rum before he answered. “Someday,” he said as he passed the bottle back. “Not tha’ Bore-adon is really where I wanna end up.”_

_“Yeah? Where is it you’re going when we finally get off this garbage dump?” he asked. He had a feeling he already knew the answer._

_Harry looked out wistfully over the water. “I’ll sail the seas, mate. Get me own ship an’ me own crew an’ never stop sailin’ fer the horizon.”_

_Hayden didn’t respond, just knocked back a bit of rum._

_“Yeh could come wit’ me,” Harry said suddenly. Hayden looked over at the pirate and was met with eyes as blue as the seas themselves, lined with kohl and shining with something he couldn’t quite place. “Wha’s there fer us?” he asked as he gestured toward the distant nation. “We’ve been stuck on this island fer our whole lives. We could sail wherever an’ whenever we wanna go.”_

_Hayden sighed even as he thought that it sounded perfect. “I have to spend time in the Underworld, with the earth,” he reminded him._

_Harry looked at him thoughtfully before he reached for the rum bottle again. Hayden passed it back without a word. “I ever tell yeh the story of Davy Jones an’ Calypso?” he asked suddenly, taking a swig._

_Hayden shook his head. “You haven’t.”_

_“Davy Jones was cap’n of the Flyin’ Dutchman,” the pirate started. “He ferried souls of drowned sailors off to the afterlife. He couldn’t step foot on dry land ‘cept fer ev’ry ten years.” Harry set down the rum and looked Hayden right in the eyes. “Ev’ry ten years he could go ashore to be wit’ Calypso, wit’ the one he loved,” he said quietly. _

_There was a moment of silence as they just looked at each other, neither acknowledging out loud what Harry just implied. Some things simply weren’t done on the Isle of the Lost. _

_“Ten years is a long time,” Hayden finally murmured, casting his eyes back over the water. “Long enough to change your mind, to find someone else,” he added._

_“I wouldn’t,” Harry said simply, like he didn’t even have to think about it. “Hades an’ Persephone don’t see each other fer six months ev’ry year,” he reminded him. _

_Hayden nodded slowly. “We could probably manage that,” he said._

_“Aye,” Harry agreed. “We could. Yeh could spend fall an’ winter in the Underworld jus’ like yer mum. Spring an’ summer on the seas,” he told him enthusiastically. _

_The pale boy gave him a small smile. “It sounds great, Harry. Perfect even.” He sighed. “We’re still stuck here, though.”_

_Harry looked determined. “We’ll get off someday,” he promised. “I’ll get me own ship an’ we’ll sail together.”_

_Hayden could feel his smile grow as he grabbed the bottle of rum again. “Black,” he said. “A ship as black as the night sky.”_

_Harry grinned back at him, just a touch too wide like always. “A black ship wit’ a great black flag,” he agreed. “Wit’ a skull an’ a rose flyin’ in the wind.”_

_Hayden laughed and raised the bottle in a toast. “You’ll be the greatest pirate to ever sail the seas,” he told him as he took another swig. They were running low._

_“Aye,” Harry said. “I’ll drink to tha’.” He took the bottle and tipped it back only to lower it a few seconds later with a frown. “The rum is gone,” he said dully. “Why is the rum always gone?”_

_Hayden cackled at the forlorn expression on his face._

Hayden sighs as he comes back to the present. “We’ll get off the Isle someday,” he says to himself. “All of us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Harry and Hayden. I really do.  
You're gonna notice that a lot of how I do the whole 'pirate' thing is influenced by Pirates of the Caribbean. For example, Harry and the rum. Honestly, Jack Sparrow is probably gonna lend himself a lot to how I characterize Harry Hook. Not that I think anyone should mind because, come on, who doesn't love Jack Sparrow?  
Let me know what you thought and any ideas you might have/anything you might like to see!


	9. Chapter 9

Hayden sits, completely bored, at his table in the Remedial Goodness 101 ‘classroom’ when Fairy Godmother comes in pushing a rolling cart with a television sitting on it. She gives him a disapproving look for having his boots on the table again and just gets a blank look in reply.

“Children, excuse me,” she says excitedly as she comes to a stop in front of her little teaching platform. “Um, as you know, uh, this Sunday is Family Day here at Auradon Prep and because your parents can’t be here due to, uh,_ distance_ we’ve arranged a special treat.”

Hayden cocks one eyebrow. “You mean because our parents can’t be here because they’re prisoners?” he asks bluntly.

Fairy Godmother stutters for a few seconds, unsure how to respond, while the other four share smirks.

“Uh, well,” she clears her throat before finally just turning and pushing a button on a little remote to turn the television screen on. “Kids!” She waves them over as Maleficent appears on the screen, too close as she apparently adjusts their own side of the connection.

They all watch for a moment as the so-called Mistress of All Evil struggles to work a simple video call. Though, to be fair, there’s isn’t really any technology on the Isle unless someone, usually Carlos, could fix up a broken electronic shipped over from Auradon.

After a few minutes of struggling, Maleficent finally figures it out and steps back. As she does, Evil Queen, Cruella, and Jafar also come into view. Mal, Evie, Carlos, and Jay all step forward to speak to their parents while Hayden stays in the back, arms crossed and hip leaning against one of the tables.

After all, he has no one to speak with. His father is confined to his kingdom and, until the seasons change, so is his mother.

The Evil Queen gasps in delight as soon as she sees her daughter. “Evie! It’s mommy!” she exclaims with a wave. Evie smiles and waves back. “Oh, look how beautiful,” EQ goes on. “You know what they say: the poison apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

“Don’t you mean the weeds?” Maleficent asks with a smirk. Jafar laughs as Cruella seems to finally notice Fairy Godmother.

“Ooh, who’s the old bat?” she asks loudly.

Hayden grins to himself as he sees the way the other four get so awkward about the way their parents are acting.

“This is Fairy Godmother,” Mal says pointedly.

“Still doing tricks with eggplants?” Maleficent asks cattily.

“I turned a pumpkin into a beautiful carriage!” Fairy Godmother shoots back, obviously offended as the villains laugh.

“You couldn’t give Cinderella until 1:00 AM?” Maleficent continues. “I mean, really? What, the hamsters had to be back on their little wheels?” She and Evil Queen share a fist bump as Fairy Godmother’s face starts to turn red.

“They were mice!” she protests as Mal starts to gently move her away from in front of the camera. “They were- they were mice!”

Hayden shakes his head as he sees the smug looks on the villains’ faces. Is this really what some of the most infamous villains in history have become? Is this how far they’ve fallen?

“Thank you,” Mal tells Fairy Godmother quietly as she gets her away from the screen. “Hi, mom,” she greets tensely.

“Mal!” Maleficent exclaims. “I m-mi-miss you,” she stutters, visibly struggling to get the words out.

“You children are never far from our thoughts,” Jafar cuts in as he and Cruella wave.

“I got it,” Maleficent snaps in their direction. She turns back to Mal. “How long must mommy wait to see you?” she asks.

“Um, there’s a big coronation coming up,” Mal tells her. “I think some time probably after that.”

Hayden nods slightly in approval of Mal telling Maleficent the plan without letting their true intentions slip to Fairy Godmother. After all, his father taught him from a young age: talk around things, twist the truth, and omit certain things, but never outright lie. No good deal is set on lies.

“When?” Maleficent demands.

“Friday at 10:00 AM,” Mal says quickly, reacting on reflex to the sharp tone of voice.

“Are you sure I can’t see you before that?” Maleficent asks, her innocent and doting mother act fooling absolutely no one except perhaps Fairy Godmother. “I don’t know what I’ll do if I can’t get my hands on that magic wa- I mean, you! You, you little nugget that I love so much!”

Hayden can’t help but glance over at Fairy Godmother to see if she’s catching on. Of course, the woman just looks like she can’t believe Maleficent would say something so sweet. He rolls his eyes.

Naive, he thinks, might just be the best word to describe many residents of Auradon.

“Yes. I completely understand, Mother,” Mal says with a fake smile.

Something seems to catch Cruella’s attention as she moves closer to the camera. “Carlos, is that a dog?” she asks shrilly. Hayden watches as Carlos flinches at his mother’s voice.

Dude growls, showing his teeth for the first time since Carlos started carrying him around.

Cruella just cackles and squeaks the stuffed dog on her fur coat. “Oh, yes. Yes, baby. I do understand,” she tells it. “It’s the perfect size for earmuffs.”

Hayden shoots her a dark glare as his eyes seem to flash. After all, he is a dog person. Cruella doesn’t notice, too busy talking to her stuffed dog, but the other villains definitely feel it. All three of them flinch slightly, Maleficent less so as she tries to hide it.

“He’s the perfect size for a pet,” Carlos tells Cruella fiercely. He steps closer to the screen, Dude still in his arms. “This dog loves me, and I love him.” There’s an unspoken ‘unlike you’ that they can all hear. “And FYI- your dog is stuffed!”

Cruella gasps in shock.

“So, give it a rest!”

Hayden trades a proud glance with Mal as they all watch Carlos stand up to his mother. Jay claps the white-haired boy on the shoulder and Evie sends him a bright smile as the villains start to argue with each other. 

They let the argument go on for a few moments before Jay reaches forward and turns the screen off.

“I’m so sorry,” Fairy Godmother tells them quietly. 

“Thanks for the _special_ treat,” Jay says with a tense smile.

“M?” Evie says as they grab their bags and start to leave the room. “What do you think our parents are going to do to us if we don’t pull this off?”

“I think they will be quietly disappointed in us but ultimately proud of us for doing our best,” Mal says cautiously.

Hayden scoffs in disbelief. “Oh, do you?” he mutters. Mal shoots him a glare with no real heat behind it. She knows he’s right.

“Really?” Carlos asks, looking at her like she’s lost her mind.

“No,” Mal says simply. “I think we are definitely goners.”

“Yeah,” Evie agrees.

“Well, we just can’t fail then,” Jay tells them as they make their way towards the boys’ room.

“I’d offer the Underworld as sanctuary if we do fail but, well, I don’t think any of you would really be _comfortable_ there,” Hayden muses. He smirks at the unamused looks they all give him.

It doesn’t take long after they reach Carlos and Jay’s room for Mal to lay out the plan.

“Okay,” she says as she unfurls a copy of the blueprints for the coronation ceremony that Carlos managed to find and print. “We all know what this looks like.” She points at her drawing of the wand. “So, it’ll be up on the dais under Beast’s bell jar and we’ll be coming up from here. I will be up at the very front. You all will be up in the balcony, okay?”

“Aye,” Hayden confirms. “My presence will be enough to clear the space needed for us to get down from the balcony quickly.”

Mal nods at him. “Right. Carlos?”

“I’ll find our limo so we can break the barrier and, uh, get back to the island with the wand,” Carlos tells her. He doesn’t look very happy to be returning to the Isle. None of them are.

Well, except maybe Hayden but that has more to do with certain people on the Isle than the place itself.

“Perfect. Evie?”

“Yeah?” the princess asks.

“You will use this to take out the driver,” Mal says as she hands her a perfume bottle that had been filled with something that was definitely not perfume. “Two sprays and he’ll be out like a light.”

“You sure I can’t just hit him?” Jay asks. “I guarantee he’ll be out for at least a few hours.”

Mal shakes her head. “You’re back up in case any guards try to stop us. Well, you and Hayden.”

Hayden and Jay share a smirk and a fist bump at their given roles.

“Right,” Evie says as she carefully tucks the bottle into her purse. “Hopefully, though, we can manage without too much violence.” She gives both boys a pointed look.

“I never get to have any fun,” Jay mutters as he walks off towards Carlos.

“Mal?” Hayden says as he notices her flipping through her spell book.

Evie looks closer at the page she landed on. “You want to break Ben’s love spell?” she asks quietly.

“Yeah,” Mal breathes as Evie takes a seat beside her and Hayden leans his crossed arms on the table. “You know, for after. I don’t… I’ve just been thinking, you know, when the villains finally do invade Auradon and begin to loot and kick everyone out of their castles and imprison their leaders and destroy all that is good and beautiful, Ben still being in love with me seems a little extra…” She trails off for a second. “Cruel,” she finishes, voice nearly a whisper.

“M?”

Mal ignores Evie as she gathers her spell book and heads to their room. Evie looks sadly after her friend for a moment before she turns to Hayden.

“I’ll talk to her,” he assures her.

That night, Hayden makes his way to the kitchen. He sticks largely to the shadows which, as always, welcome him like an old friend. He quietly pushes the kitchen door open just in time to see a tear slip from Mal’s cheek into the bowl in front of her.

Mal looks up as she hears the door open. She doesn’t even try to wipe the tear track from her cheek when she sees that it’s just Hayden.

He silently glides over to where Mal is standing. “Never seen you cry before,” he says after a moment. Mal just shrugs. “Seems a bit like you're having second thoughts,” he points out. “Like you might like Ben more than you thought.”

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t have a choice,” Mal says dully. “We have to get the wand so our parents can escape the Isle and have their revenge.”

There’s a long beat of silence.

“You know,” Hayden says as he takes a seat on the counter beside her, “whenever I go to the Underworld, I’m there to train my powers.”

“I do know that,” Mal says with a slow nod, wondering why he’s telling her this.

“I’ve also been trained to fight. All kinds of weapons and all kinds of styles.” He sighs. “My father is never the one to physically train me in combat. Do you know why?” he asks as he turns toward Mal.

She shrugs as she looks at him. “He doesn’t want to hurt you?” she guesses. Her tone is wistful because she knows Maleficent would have no problem hurting her.

“Yeah. He doesn’t want to hurt me,” Hayden tells her. “He doesn’t want to hurt me because I bleed red,” he finishes with another sigh.

Mal’s eyebrows furrow. “Well, yeah, obviously. What else are you…” She trails off as she remembers exactly who she’s talking to. “Oh,” she says quietly.

Hayden nods and tilts his head back to look up at the ceiling, leaning back on his hands. “I am the only child of Hades and Persephone themselves, yet I bleed red like any mortal.”

They sit in silence for a long moment before Mal breaks it.

“Do you blame Auradon?” she asks. “Or do you blame the Olympians?”

“I think,” Hayden says thoughtfully, “I blame them both. I mean, the Beastie and his council, all the so-called heroes, they’re the reason the Isle and the barrier exist. Living under the barrier is the reason I’m not at full power. It’s why I’m not technically a god.”

“And the Olympians?” Mal prompts quietly.

Hayden puffs up his cheeks before slowly letting the air out. “Well, they’re the reason I was sent to the Isle at all. They’re scared of another death god, especially one that also controls aspects of life, so they chose to just sweep the problem under the rug as it were.” There’s a beat of silence. “They’re the reason I’ve never met my mother,” he concludes.

“So, you’re saying you do think we should bring down the barrier and give my mother the wand?” Mal asks like she just wants someone, anyone, to give her a definite answer about what to do.

Hayden drops his head to look at her again. “I’m saying that being trapped under that barrier has taken a lot away from me and I know there are other kids, other people, still under it who probably feel the same. I’m saying that, while I don’t know for sure if giving someone like Maleficent that much power is a good idea, something definitely needs to be done about the Isle.”

Mal nods slowly, clearly deep in thought. Hayden leaps lightly off the counter and puts one hand on her shoulder.

“Just think about it, alright Mallie? I don’t want you to do something you’ll regret.” He turns to walk back to his room.

“It’s been a while since you’ve called me that,” Mal says. He can hear the smile in her voice.

“Yeah, well, that’s because you always got all huffy about it.” He looks over his shoulder to send her a wink. “This place is softening you up, Mal.” Hayden continues towards the dorm rooms and smiles to himself when he hears a quiet realization from behind him.

“That might not be such a bad thing,” Mal whispers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this chapter was a little short but I'm excited to start writing the Family Day chapter! I can't wait to have Hayden's reaction to Leah and Chad. I also can't wait to write about the parents' reactions to Hayden.  
Let me know what you thought and anything you might like to see!


	10. Chapter 10

Family Day comes far too soon for any of the villain kids’ liking. All five of them stand on a balcony overlooking the festivities when music catches their attention as a group of students gathers.

“Oh, they’re not,” Hayden groans. Ben makes his way to the front of the little group of students as he begins their song. “Why? Why must they always sing?” he complains.

“You have to admit, the song choice is… interesting,” Carlos comments as he scratches between Dude’s ears.

“That’s one word for it,” Jay drawls.

Hayden frowns as he watches the group throw their menus aside. “Someone had better pick those up,” he mutters.

“I’m sure they will,” Mal tells him with a roll of her eyes.

“Come on,” Evie says, waving one elegant hand towards the staircase. “We should go mingle.”

“Let’s not and say we did,” Jay suggests.

“Better yet,” Hayden chimes in, “let’s not and then not even say that we did.” He and Jay high-five as Evie gives them a disapproving look.

“Now,” she says sternly.

Reluctantly, they all follow her down the stairs and across the lawn. Hayden amuses himself by watching the reactions of all the ‘good’ families as they notice who they are.

The little musical number comes to an end, thank the Fates, just as Mal discovers a plate of strawberries. Right beside it is a table with what looks to be a chocolate fountain. Naturally, Jay and Carlos immediately make for it. Evie takes Dude with a sigh as his new owner hurries over to the chocolate.

Hayden absentmindedly scratches under the dog’s chin as he takes the opportunity to continue the argument he and Evie have been having since she set out their outfits for the event.

“If I end up burning in this stupidly bright sun then I blame you,” he tells her.

She rolls her eyes. “That’s why you put on the sunscreen,” she reminds him.

“Why couldn’t I just wear my jacket?” he asks again. “Jay got to,” he adds as he gestures first towards the chocolate fountain then at the short-sleeved button up he’d been forced into.

Evie shoots him a look. “Jay is wearing an appropriate jacket for this event. Your jacket is in no way appropriate for this crowd.”

Hayden cocks one eyebrow. “Since when do I care about what these people find appropriate?”

“Since Mal is dating the almost king,” Evie says firmly.

“That sounds more like her problem than mine,” he points out as he crosses his arms. “Besides, these people will never find the devil’s son ‘appropriate’ no matter what.” 

Evie looks at him for a long moment. “You’re perfectly fine with that, aren’t you?” she asks rhetorically. Hayden nods in answer anyway.

Mal draws their attention away from the repeated argument as Ben catches _her _attention. “I gotta go, okay?” she tells them, already making her way to the prince’s side. They both watch as Ben wraps one arm around her shoulders and starts to lead her over to his parents.

“How do you think that’s gonna go?” Hayden asks.

“It’ll be fine,” Evie says, clearly trying to convince herself as much as anyone.

“Meeting the parents can’t be easy,” he reminds her. “Especially when they’re the self-proclaimed king and queen of goodness and you’re the child of an infamous villain.”

“Not that you would know,” she says wryly. “I mean, I’m pretty sure Hook likes you.”

Hayden starts to deny that it’s in any way the same thing but, at Evie’s pointed look, just shrugs his shoulders. “The captain likes me about as much as he likes anyone,” he admits. “It helps that old Tick-Tock stays away when I’m around.”

It’s about then that Mal, Ben, and his parents all turn to look in their direction. Evie sends them a wave while Hayden crosses his arms and levels the king and queen with his most bored and unimpressed look. They look away uncomfortably while Mal’s lips twitch like she wants to smile at his antics.

Hayden has just enough time to feel satisfied with himself when Ben and Mal walk over. He looks past them in time to see Belle fall back into her husband’s arms, apparently in shock, as Carlos and Jay join them.

“We’ve been invited to play a game of croquet with Ben’s parents,” Mal tells them, clearly nervous but trying to hide it. The others agree easily enough, despite not even really knowing what the game is, while Hayden just gives her a look.

“Hayden, you wanna play?” Ben asks with a smile. He looks like he already knows exactly what the answer will be.

“Can’t,” Hayden says flatly. “Love to but can’t.”

“Liar,” Carlos scoffs in amusement as he takes Dude back from Evie.

Mal rolls her eyes. “Come on,” she says. “You can at least do us the_ courtesy_ of standing nearby while we play.”

“You just don’t trust me enough to leave me unsupervised around all these Auradonians,” he accuses as they start toward the croquet court.

“We don’t,” all four of the other villains’ kids answer. Ben laughs a little at the way none of them even hesitate.

“It would definitely be entertaining though,” Jay points out with a grin.

“Behave,” Evie warns them. “Both of you.”

Hayden rolls his eyes. “It’s not my fault all the _heroes_,” he sneers the word, “seem to have a problem with honesty.”

Before the conversation can escalate any more, they quickly get sucked into the game. Well, some of them do. Jay, Mal, Ben, and Beastie actually play. Evie stands off to the side talking to Belle while Carlos runs around playing with Dude.

Hayden stands there, bored out of his mind, cursing Mal for confiscating his book, and contemplating slinking back to his blissfully dark room when movement and a flash of red out of the corner of his eye catches his attention.

He looks over to see Madoc standing beside an older but equally ginger-haired woman and waving to get his attention. He slowly makes his way over, noticing as he does the area of cleared space around them, like the other Auradonians don’t want to be near.

It only seems to grow as his own direction becomes clear.

“Hayden, I’d like yeh to meet my mum,” Madoc says. “Queen Merida.”

Hayden looks at the Scottish royal and can’t help but notice the way she stands out in this particular crowd, not only because of her wild red hair but also because she’s wearing slacks and a pair of flats. It’s a far cry from the frilly dresses and heels basically every other woman in attendance has on.

“Your majesty,” he greets. He has no real problem with Merida as, he happens to know, she was one of the few to oppose the whole bringing-dead-villains-back-for-punishment thing.

“Oh, wee lamb,” she coos with a smile. “No need fer tha’, lad. Yeh can jus’ call me Merida.”

Hayden’s nose crinkles with distaste. “Not much of a lamb,” he comments.

Merida just smiles brighter. “Ev’ry herd needs its black sheep,” she tells him with a pointed look at his, well, everything. “In mer ways than one.”

Hayden looks away to try and hide the slight smile her words cause. “Where’s your other half?” he asks Madoc.

The redhead smirks back at him. “Oh, she’s in the kitchen helpin’ Angie. Her mum’s caterin’,” he explains.

“Aye,” Merida agrees. “We’re righ’ lucky she is, too. Tiana’s a fine cook.” She gets an identical look to her son. “I’m sure Moira’s enjoyin’ Angie’s comp’ny too.”

Hayden smirks back, amused that both Merida and Madoc seem to enjoy nothing more than teasing Moira about her obvious crush.

The three of them spend a few minutes talking before Madoc gets called away by a couple of friends and Merida catches sight of an Asian couple that Hayden figures must be Lonnie’s parents, two other ‘heroes’ that he doesn’t really mind.

Hayden makes his way back towards the group, coming to a stop beside Mal where she’s leaning on her mallet and watching Ben play rather than playing herself.

“You know,” he drawls, smirking when she jumps slightly at his sudden appearance, “you’re starting to look a bit like your boy there.”

“What do you mean?” she asks. “And he’s not ‘my boy’,” she adds through a light blush.

“The puppy-eyed look of adoration,” Hayden tells her, stepping back quickly to avoid the hit she aims at his shoulder.

Before he can tease Mal anymore, an old woman comes up to them. She looks familiar, though he can’t quite place why.

“Hello, there,” she greets Mal, blatantly ignoring Hayden after giving his dark attire a disdainful glance that only makes her look more familiar. “Now, have we met?” she asks.

Mal shakes her head with an awkward smile. “No, I don’t think so. I’m new. I’m sort of like a… transfer student,” she says.

Hayden rolls his eyes at the woman’s nod of acceptance at Mal’s explanation. The girl has bright purple hair; she doesn’t exactly look like an Auradonian and she’s not from Wonderland. That only leaves one place.

“Grammy,” Audrey calls as she suddenly makes her way over to them.

“Oh, Audrey!” the old woman exclaims. “Give Grammy a kiss, dear,” she says as she pulls her into her arms and does just that.

“Grammy?” Mal mutters in shock. Hayden clicks his tongue.

“That does explain things,” he mutters back, now realizing why he recognized her. She has the same holier-than-thou dismissive look as her granddaughter.

“Sleeping Beauty’s mother,” Audrey says cattily as she pulls away from her ‘Grammy’. “Grammy, I don’t think you need to be talking to this girl, not unless you feel like taking another hundred-year nap.”

Hayden shoots her a glare as he steps closer to Mal, seeing the other three coming up to join them. “Watch it, Audrey,” he tells her darkly. “You’re playing a game you can’t win.”

She glares back but can’t quite hide her nervous swallow.

“What?” her grandmother asks before she looks closer at Mal and gasps in shock. “You! How are you here? And how have you stayed so young?”

“Queen Leah,” Ben says, hurrying over as he notices what’s happening, “it’s okay. Maleficent is still on the island.” He places one hand on Mal’s shoulder. “This is her daughter, Mal. Don’t you remember my proclamation to give the new generation a chance?”

“A chance to what, Ben?” Leah asks. “Destroy us?” Fairy Godmother steps up from the gathering crowd and tries to stop things, but she continues undaunted. “Don’t you remember? The poison apples? And the spells? The spells!”

Hayden bites back a smirk as he hears a distinctive Scottish accent from somewhere in the crowd. “Get over yerself, woman,” Merida calls.

Leah sends a quick glare at the crowd before she turns back to face Mal. “My daughter was raised by fairies because of your mother’s curse. Her first words, her first steps- I missed it all!”

Hayden barks out a harsh laugh. The sound seems to draw all eyes to him, especially Leah who seems particularly insulted that he would laugh at such a thing.

“Maleficent made it clear that the curse didn’t come into effect until she turned sixteen. _You chose_ to send your daughter away as an infant. _You chose_ to miss out on those things.” He says it all with a wide grin, daring her to deny the truth.

Mal sends him a grateful glance while Leah just seems shocked, along with the other Auradonians watching. Mulan and Shang, he notices, share an agreeing look.

It takes a moment before Leah manages to speak again. “You- you must be Hades’ boy,” she says with a sneer as she looks over his, well, everything.

Hayden smirks. “Lord Hades,” he corrects, “if you please.”

“_You _certainly can’t be trusted,” the queen continues. “Why, you’re probably only here so you can- can claim our souls for your wretched father!”

Hayden feels anger curl in his chest as he hears her description of his father but knows that’s not the way to deal with someone like her. He just gives the woman a slow and unsettling smile as he holds out one pale hand. “Wanna shake on it?” he asks.

More than one onlooker gasps in shock. Leah stumbles back a step, physically trying to put distance between her and the son of the Underworld.

Hayden cackles shortly before he drops his hand. He smirks at the old woman. “Oh, come on. I’m kidding,” he drawls. “Fates know I don’t want to deal with your soul before I absolutely have to.”

Suddenly, the area around them seems darker. The shadows seem to lengthen and, later, one girl will claim that the rose bushes near her moved, that their thorns grew sharper.

“I will, you know,” Hayden continues, his voice nearly a purr. “Your soul, your daughter’s, your granddaughter’s, everyone here. You’ll all join my father’s kingdom one day.” His golden eyes seem to glow.

He feels four hands land on his arms and back as Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos try to bring him back to himself.

“Hayden,” Carlos hisses. “Come on, man. Now is not the time.” The oppressive atmosphere lightens as Hayden takes a deep breath and steps back, calmly shaking their hands off as he does.

Leah stares at him with wide eyes full of fear before she turns back to Ben, clearly deciding to focus on the so-called evil she knows. “You mustn’t trust her,” she says, pointing at Mal.

Mal checks one more time to make sure he’s under control before she steps forward with one hand raised. “I’m so sorry-“ she starts.

Chad interrupts as he puts himself firmly into a situation that has nothing to do with him. “Get away,” he cries. “Stay away from her,” he says as he plants himself in front of Leah and Audrey.

“_Don’t_ do this, Chad,” Ben says firmly as he steps forward.

“What?” Chad says. “They were raised by their parents, Ben. What do you think they taught them, huh? Kindness? Fair play?” He turns back towards them. “_You _stole another girl’s boyfriend,” he says with a gesture at Mal.

“Hey!” Ben exclaims, trying to head off the steadily escalating conflict.

“_You_ enjoy hurting people,” Chad continues as he points at Jay. Hayden can see the long-haired boy’s shoulders tense. Charming Junior turns to look at Carlos next and Hayden smoothly steps in front of him.

“Try it,” he dares. He can hear Dude growling from Carlos’ arms as Chad hesitates, clearly unwilling to push a visibly angry godling any further.

Instead, he turns to Evie. “And _you_,” he sneers, “well, you’re nothing but a gold digger and a cheater.”

Jay’s fists clench at the comment as Hayden takes a sharp step forward, only stopped by Carlos’ hand on his arm and Evie’s warning look.

Evie holds up her magic mirror. “Mirror, mirror in my hand,” she says. “Who’s the biggest _jerk_ in the land?” She holds it up to show everyone Chad’s reflection.

“What?” Chad exclaims. “Oh, come on,” he dismisses, smacking Evie’s hand down and causing her to stumble.

Jay immediately moves, grabbing the prince by his lapels and lifting him clean off the ground by at least an inch. Hayden reaches out and steadies Evie, a growl fit for Cerberus building in his chest as he feels a few flames spark in his hair.

“Back off, Chad,” Jay orders harshly. Hayden’s all for him at least breaking his nose but Evie steps forward before he gets the chance. She sprays Chad with the potion meant for the driver and he immediately falls unconscious.

“Chad?” Audrey calls in a panic. “Chad!”

“Evie did something to Chad!” someone cries. Hayden’s too busy watching in satisfaction as they fail to wake the boy to notice who.

“Come on, Mal,” Evie says, grabbing the shocked girl by the arm as she and Carlos turn to walk away.

“Guys!” Ben tries.

“Jay! Hayden!” Evie calls over her shoulder.

Jay slowly turns to join them while Hayden watches for a moment longer, disappointed to see that Chad seems to be coming around.

“Come on, man,” Jay says quietly, nudging his shoulder as he walks past.

Later, after Family Day has ended, the five of them sit in silence at a picnic table by themselves. Well, Hayden sits on the table with his boots planted on the bench, glaring at the other students around them as they gossip and whisper about what happened.

Ben comes walking up to them. “Hey, guys,” he greets. “How is everyone?” He doesn’t get an answer. “Listen, forget about it, alright? It was nothing. Let it go.”

He looks at each of them but still gets no response.

“Tomorrow, after the coronation, I promise everything will be okay,” he says optimistically. He drops his hands on Mal’s shoulders and leans down to her level. “I have to go,” he tells her softly. “I’ll see you guys later,” he adds as he walks off.

As he does, Doug comes up to them, stopping in front of Evie. “Listen, Evie, I want to talk about earlier today,” he says. “I just-“

He’s cut off as Chad yells across the courtyard. “Doug!”

“It’s my fault, Doug,” Evie tells him. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Hayden mutters. He’s ignored.

“No, it’s mine,” Doug says earnestly.

“It is,” Hayden agrees. Again, they ignore him.

Chad shouts again and Doug sighs as he turns to walk away.

“Doug,” Evie tries. He just shakes his head.

“Sorry,” he says sadly. “I can’t.” He walks over to Chad’s table without a look back.

“Loyalty,” Hayden scoffs. “How ironic that it’s a foreign concept everywhere but the Isle.”

He can’t help but be reminded of the Olympians and all their affairs and betrayals. If there’s one thing he’s never been able to stand about them, besides their role in his imprisonment, it’s the way they treat their relationships.

His mood only gets worse as Audrey comes by with, surprisingly, Jane.

“How long does she think that’s going to last?” Audrey asks pointedly as she glances at Mal. “Mal’s just the bad girl infatuation,” she continues.

“Yeah,” Jane agrees as she looks directly at Mal. “I mean, he’s never going to make a villain a queen,” she says in a catty tone she’s clearly picked up from Audrey.

Hayden turns his glare directly on the two of them. His golden eyes seem to flash as the grass under their feet shifts and causes them to stumble.

Mal flips rapidly through her spell book, quickly landing on the right page. “Beware, foreswear, undo Jane’s hair,” she intones, moving her finger in a few short motions as a shriek comes from the again short-haired Jane.

Audrey leads the other Auradonians in laughing at her predicament while Mal stands up and takes a few steps toward her, Evie at her side and the boys at their backs.

“There’s a lot more where that came from,” she threatens.

“Excuse me,” Audrey scoffs. “Who do you think you are?”

Hayden can’t help but cackle at the fact that she’s clearly forgotten her place, as proven by her wide eyes when she sees Mal flipping through her spell book again.

“Do I look like I’m kidding?” the half-fairy asks sharply.

Audrey and the other students run off in fear with more than one panicked scream. Mal turns on her heel to face them, a tight smile on her face.

“I’m really looking forward to tomorrow,” she tells them. “Let’s grab that wand and blow this place.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God, I've been waiting to post the Family Day confrontation. I loved having Hayden call Leah out on her hypocrisy. I also couldn't resist putting some of my favorites (Merida, Mulan, and Shang) in here.  
The coronation scene is next, guys. I can't wait for y'all to read how I'm changing things there! It's definitely gonna lead to some changes in the second movie.  
Let me know what you thought and any ideas you might have!


	11. Chapter 11

The morning of the coronation is, unfortunately, bright and sunny. Hayden stands with Evie, Carlos, and Jay on the balcony overlooking the event. There’s a clear perimeter around them as the Auradonians do their best to avoid the ‘evil’ among them.

“What time does this thing actually start?” Jay asks impatiently.

“Ten o’clock,” Carlos tells him. “So, any minute now.”

“There it is,” Evie breathes as Fairy Godmother makes her way to the bell jar where her magic wand sits.

“Such a little thing,” Hayden mutters, adjusting the sleeves of the 'appropriate' black leather jacket Evie made him, “to hold so much power.”

A commotion at the front of the chapel draws their attention along with everyone else’s. It’s soon clear why as the current king and queen enter through the ornate doors, Mal right behind them as a guard escorts her to her place near the dais.

Jay gives a low whistle as she comes into view. “Nice job, E,” he says. “She looks like a real princess.”

“She does,” Evie agrees, obviously proud.

“Still a bit purple for this crowd,” Hayden teases. Evie smacks him on the arm, trying to hide a smile, while Jay and Carlos both stifle a laugh.

They grow serious as Ben enters the chapel next. The other three shift on their feet, clearly nervous, while Hayden just watches impassively as he makes his way to Fairy Godmother. She bows to King Beastie and, when he bows back, removes the crown from his head. Ben kneels to one knee before them.

Fairy Godmother gently places the crown on Ben’s head while his father lifts the bell jar. Mal looks up at them as Belle hands the wand to Fairy Godmother who, in turn, moves directly in front of Ben.

“Do you solemnly swear to govern the peoples of Auradon with justice and mercy as long as you shall reign?” she asks seriously.

Hayden frowns. He’s sixteen, he thinks. It shouldn’t be his job. Then again, the Isle is a clear indication that the current rulers aren’t doing the job right either.

“I do solemnly swear,” Ben intones.

Fairy Godmother smiles brightly and taps Ben on each shoulder with her wand. “Then it is my honor and my joy to bless our new king.”

An almost singular gasp encompasses the room as someone suddenly grabs the wand out of Fairy Godmother’s hand.

“Is that Jane?” Carlos asks in shock.

“No time,” Hayden says as a bolt of pure energy escapes the wand and seems to pass straight through the ceiling, several more flying about as Jane struggles to control the artifact. “Let’s go.” They quickly make their way down to Mal, the crowd easily parting as soon as they see Hayden.

Admittedly, the rather serious look on his face probably has a lot to do with that, along with the dark aura that seems to surround him.

They get there just in time to hear Ben ask Mal to hand him the wand she’s just taken from Jane, a wand that is now completely calm in her own hand.

“Stand back!” Mal tells him, oddly calm and with both hands wrapped around the wand as the four of them move to stand behind her.

“It’s okay,” Ben assures her as he reaches out to take it.

“Ben, I said stay back!” Mal repeats, her voice a little sharper.

“I told you so!” Audrey cries from the audience. Hayden can’t help but roll his eyes.

Not the time, he thinks.

Mal turns to face her, wand still in hand, and more than one person shrieks in fear and panic.

“Let’s go,” Carlos says quietly.

“Revenge time,” Jay adds, teeth clenched and clearly nervous.

“You really want to do this?” Ben asks like he’s disappointed.

“We have no choice, Ben!” Mal exclaims, her hands starting to shake not from the wand’s power but from her own emotions. “Our parents-“

“Your parents made their choice,” Ben says firmly. “Now, you make yours.” He takes a step back and his shoulders relax, apparently sure that she’ll make the ‘right’ choice.

Mal looks around at all the people watching her and takes a deep breath. “I think I want to be good,” she says quietly.

“You _are _good,” Ben assures her.

“How do you _know_ that?” she asks desperately.

“Because…” he trails off, “because I’m listening to my heart.”

Hayden rolls his eyes at the cliché while Mal seems to think it over. “I want to listen to my heart too,” she says as she lowers the wand and turns to face the four of them. “And my heart is telling me that we are not our parents.”

“I mean, stealing things doesn’t make you happy,” she tells Jay. “Tourney and victory parties with the team make you happy.”

Jay smiles as someone, likely a tourney player, shouts an agreement from somewhere in the crowd.

“Carlos,” Mal says as she turns to face him, “look at you! You have a dog now. Who would have thought?”

Carlos laughs a little as he looks down at his feet where Dude has, at some point, made his way over to sit. The scruffy dog yips up at him in apparent agreement.

She turns to Evie next. “And Evie… you do not have to play dumb to get a guy. You are _so _smart.”

Both girls laugh, blinking back tears, as Mal turns to face the last member of their group.

“Hayden,” she sighs, “you’re always gonna be a little darker than the rest of us.” He nods in agreement. “And I know you have people on the Isle but…” She shrugs. “You’ve got all the books you can read here, and healthy gardens and Lady Persephone will be back topside come springtime.”

Hayden nods again. “Aye,” he agrees quietly. “She will.”

He doesn’t mention that he’s sure the Olympians will still try to find a way to keep them away from each other.

Mal smiles and blinks back more tears as she looks up to the ceiling for a moment. “And I don’t want to take over the world with evil. It doesn’t make me happy. I want to go to school.”

The whole crowd seems to gasp as one and Hayden can see Fairy Godmother smile brightly, one hand pressed to her chest like she can’t believe what she’s hearing.

“And be with Ben,” Mal continues, turning to face the boy and holding up one hand to show his ring that she’s still wearing, “because Ben makes me _really _happy.”

Ben smiles along with his parents.

“Us being friends makes me really happy,” Mal adds as she turns back to face them, looking each of them in the eye. “I choose good you guys,” she says as she holds one hand out in front of her.

There’s a tense moment of silence before another hand joins hers.

“I choose good too,” Jay tells her before they both look at Evie.

“I choose good,” she says simply, adding her own hand.

Everyone looks to Carlos next. “So, just to be clear,” he says, “we don’t have to worry about how really mad our parents are gonna be?” He laughs a little. “Because they’re going to be really, _really _mad,” he adds.

“Your parents can’t reach you here,” Ben reassures him.

“Okay,” Carlos says, holding out his hand.

They all look at Hayden, clearly waiting for him to pledge himself to goodness and add his hand to the pile. Hayden just looks back at them and slowly shakes his head.

“I’m still not much for what you Auradonians call ‘good’. I’ve always lingered somewhere between what you call ‘bad’ and neutrality.” He looks straight at Ben, his golden eyes intense. “But I’m willing to stick to neutral if you can promise me that more kids will get to leave the Isle and the people there will get actual provisions, that they’ll get an actual life.”

“I can do that,” Ben says earnestly as he walks closer to the group, coming to a stop beside Mal. Hayden walks up to him holding out one pale and ring adorned hand.

“Within a year, Ben,” he says seriously. “You promise me that right now and we’ve got a deal. Otherwise…” he trails off. He doesn’t have to say it. Everyone in the room and everyone watching on television can tell that Hayden is fully willing to turn around and walk back to the Isle himself if Ben doesn’t agree.

Ben reaches his own hand out and firmly grasps Hayden’s. “We’ve got a deal.”

Hayden fights back a smirk as he sees several people, including Ben’s parents, flinch as they watch him make a deal with the devil’s son.

“Yes, we do,” he says as he feels a small rush of power, centered on their clasped hands.

They drop their hands as Hayden steps back. Mal grabs Ben’s hand with her own and rests her head on his shoulder while the crowd starts to cheer.

Those cheers quickly turn to screams, however, as a large cloud of smoke suddenly appears with Maleficent herself cackling in the center.

Miles away from the coronation, on the Isle of the Lost, its residents watch on small and cracked televisions as Hades’ son, unlike the other villains' kids in Auradon, refuses to declare himself ‘good’. They all watch as he convinces the new king to make a deal with him for the benefit of everyone on the Isle.

In doing so, he also unintentionally does a few other things.

First, he simultaneously convinces every citizen of the Isle that the new king is a naïve fool because, really, even the Gastons know to never make a deal with Hades or his son.

Second, he earns the respect of every citizen on the Isle. The other four, the ones that were supposed to bring down the barrier that imprisons them, they turn their backs on everything they come from without a second thought. Hayden does not; he’s the only one and they all know it.

One pirate in particular, watching the small television in Ursula’s shop, breathes a sigh of relief and can’t help but smile.

Harry had been worried for a second that he might lose Hayden, worried that he might choose a life in Auradon over the life they’d planned. His smile doesn’t falter even as Maleficent appears on screen.

He has faith in his favorite godling. They’ll get off the Isle, all of them, one way or another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, there's the first big change at the coronation. Ben made a deal with Hayden and Hayden intends to see it through. That's gonna be a big part of the sequel.  
The big confrontation with Maleficent is next, guys!  
Let me know what you thought and anything specific you might like to see in the sequel!


	12. Chapter 12

“I’m back!” Maleficent cries with a twisted grin.

“It can’t be,” Mal whispers, not wanting to believe what she can clearly see. Hayden gives her a look and she grimaces before accepting things with a sigh. “Go away, Mother,” she calls tiredly.

“She’s funny,” Maleficent says with a false laugh. “Oh, I’m so- you’re funny!” She grows serious as she snaps her fingers and points right in front of her. “Here. Now. Wand me, chop, chop.”

“No!” Ben shouts while Mal quickly throws the wand to Fairy Godmother.

“Bibbidi bobbidi-“

“Boo,” Maleficent interrupts as she waves her scepter and freezes everyone in the room except for herself and the villains’ kids. Hayden doesn’t doubt, however, that they’re all still aware of everything happening. “Psych,” she sing-songs.

They all watch as she makes her way over to the royal family and Fairy Godmother, pulling the wand from her hand and mocking them as she goes. They all grimace a little as she takes the time to admire King Beastie.

“Gross,” Carlos mutters.

“Mal, how do you wanna handle this?” Hayden asks. He figures it’s only right to let Mal decide seeing as it’s her mother they’re dealing with. Before she can answer, Maleficent returns her attention to them.

“Where shall we begin?” she hums. “Oh, I know! Why don’t we start by getting rid of this?” She waves the wand and Mal’s hand moves, Ben’s ring flying off her finger to land on the wand.

Mal gasps in dismay as she looks at her now bare hand.

“Perfect fit!” Maleficent exclaims. Evie drops a sympathetic hand on Mal’s shoulder while Hayden glares at the dark fairy.

“Just say the word, Mal,” he tells her.

Mal hesitates. “Not yet,” she murmurs, clearly ready to try reasoning with her mother despite the fact that they all know it’s unlikely to work at all.

“Aw,” Maleficent fake pouts as she knocks Ben’s crown crooked. “Falling in love is weak and ridiculous,” she tells her daughter as she makes her way towards her. “It’s not what you want.”

“You don’t know what I want!” Mal cries. “Mom, have you ever once asked me what I want? I’m not you!”

“Oh, well, obviously. I’ve had years and years and years of practice being evil. You’ll get there.”

“No, I will not,” Mal says firmly. “And I really wish you hadn’t gotten there yourself. Love is not weak or ridiculous,” she continues with a half-laugh. “It’s actually really amazing.”

Maleficent’s expression darkens as she fully realizes that her daughter will not be joining her willingly. “I know one thing, young lady,” she says. “You have no room for love in your life.” She points the wand at Mal who just glares back.

“Now I command wand to my hand!” Mal cries. The wand glows gold for a second before it flies out of Maleficent’s hand and into Mal’s. “Ha! It worked!” she gasps in delighted surprise.

“I hardly think so,” Maleficent says with a slightly unhinged chuckle. “Frankly, this is all very tedious and immature. Give me the wand. Give me the wand, now!” she screams.

“Hold on, Mal,” Carlos says. “Maybe good really is more powerful than evil.”

Maleficent bursts out laughing at the very notion. “Oh, please. You’re killing me!”

Hayden crosses his arms with a smirk. “If only,” he mutters, just loud enough for her to hear. “If only.”

Maleficent turns a glare in his direction before it turns into a smirk. “Oh, the little godling,” she coos. “Surely _you_ don’t believe in all this ‘power of goodness’ nonsense. After what those Olympians have done to you?” she reminds him.

Hayden can see the others exchange nervous looks, like they think he might agree, but he just cocks one eyebrow. “No,” he agrees, “I’m not good.”

Maleficent starts to smile in triumph. “Ha! So then, get me the wand, boy.”

“I’m not evil either,” he continues. “And I certainly don’t intend to go along with the half-baked plans of a weak fairy who can’t even hold onto the wand once it’s in her hand.”

Her smile falls as her face starts to turn red. “Weak fairy?” she repeats furiously. “I am not weak! I am no mere fairy! I am the most powerful of all! I am the Mistress of All Evil! I hold the powers of Hell at my command!”

The other four all back up a couple of steps in the face of Maleficent’s anger but Hayden doesn’t move.

He looks Maleficent right in the eyes as his own start to glow.

“You think you command all the powers of Hell?” he asks quietly. “Oh, little fairy, you don’t even know what Hell is. Me, though?” He smiles, slow and dangerous as blue flames start to curl in his hair. “I was born there.”

Maleficent stumbles back, fear showing briefly in her wide eyes before she does her best to hide it by turning to face the other four. “Enough!” she calls. “You will all regret this!”

The same smoke as before fills the room. When it fades away, they can see a great black and purple dragon standing in Maleficent’s place.

Mal gasps in shock at the legendary form.

Maleficent sends a torrent of fire in their direction with a roar. Hayden steps forward before it can reach them and throws his hand out. The fire in his hair grows brighter as the dragon’s flames turn blue under his touch, falling under his own control as they transform into hellfire itself.

“You can do that?” Jay asks in shock.

“When the situation calls for it,” Hayden answers. He looks at Mal with still glowing eyes. “You’re up, Mallie,” he tells her.

Mal nods in determination as she steps forward, undaunted by the dragon’s roar as Evie, Jay, and Carlos stand behind her, Hayden to the side and still manipulating the fire. “This is between you and me, Mother,” she says firmly.

Mother and daughter lock eyes as Mal begins to chant.

“The strength of evil is good as none when stands before four hearts as one. The strength of evil is good as none when stands before four hearts as one. The strength of evil is good as none when stands before four hearts as one!”

They stare at each other, poison green locked on poison green, both refusing to blink, when Maleficent suddenly lets out a screech as she’s engulfed in smoke for a third time.

Mal gasps in shock as Fairy Godmother suddenly unfreezes.

“Oh!” she exclaims as Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos quickly make their way to the disappearing cloud of smoke.

“What just happened?” Jay asks.

“I have no idea,” Mal answers.

“Did you do it?” Evie asks.

Hayden makes his way over before anyone can answer, shifting a small ball of blue fire from hand to hand. “She’s not dead,” he remarks. “I can tell you that much.”

“Oh, no, no, no,” Fairy Godmother exclaims as she rushes over. “Your mother did. She shrank to the size of the love in her heart. That’s why it’s so… itty-bitty.”

The smoke clears completely, and they all look down to see what she means. Instead of a great dragon, a small black and purple lizard sits on the floor in front of them.

“Is she going to be like that forever?” Mal asks quietly, kneeling down in front of her mother.

“Well, forever is a long time,” Fairy Godmother says gently. “You learned to love, so can she,” she adds optimistically.

Not likely, Hayden thinks. He doesn’t say anything though, choosing to let them have this.

Mal smiles back and holds out the wand. “I believe this belongs to you,” she says.

Fairy Godmother takes it before pulling Ben’s ring off. “And I believe _this _belongs to you.” Mal slides the ring back on her finger as Fairy Godmother turns to face the rest of them.

“You’ve all earned yourself an ‘A’ in goodness class!” she exclaims. The other four laugh a little while Hayden just raises one eyebrow. “Yes, even you, Hayden,” she says when she sees it. “Although, we do have some fire safety rules, so if you could just…”

Hayden smirks as he extinguishes the fireball still in his hands. Fairy Godmother just smiles back as she turns, wand raised, to unfreeze the crowd.

Ben and his father both unfreeze with a roar reminiscent of his previous beastly form. Mal reaches out to steady Ben as he runs over.

“Woah, okay,” she says. “We’ve kinda got this all wrapped up here.” She laughs as Ben picks her up and spins her around.

“Next time, I rescue you, okay?” he suggests.

“Yeah, let’s just not have a next time, okay?” Mal answers as she wraps her arms around him. She notices Fairy Godmother walking over to Jane out of the corner of her eye. “I’ll be right back,” she says as she heads over.

“Uh, Hayden?” Carlos says suddenly. “You’re- I mean- you’ve got a little…” He gestures at his own head.

“You’re still on fire, bro,” Jay points out.

Hayden glances up then runs his hands through his hair to snuff out the last few flames. “I’m fine. I’m fine. I’m cool. I’m fine,” he says calmly. The other three just laugh.

Mal makes her way back over from talking to Fairy Godmother, Ben back at her side, when Audrey passes by. They both stop, exchanging a long look, before they curtsy to each other and separate with small smiles.

“I can’t believe that all just happened,” Evie breathes.

Mal’s smile widens. “I think it’s safe to say that coming here is probably one of the best decisions we’ve ever made,” she says, looking up at Ben with soft eyes.

“How sentimental,” Hayden drawls. “I haven’t been this choked up since- oh Fates,” he suddenly groans. “I’m turning into my father.”

“Hey, now,” Jay mock scolds, “that’s exactly what we’re all avoiding.”

Hayden just sighs. “Believe me, I’m trying,” he says. The others laugh as Mal suddenly turns to look at the guard dropping the bell jar over Maleficent’s new lizard form.

“Hey!” she calls. The guard looks up at her. “Be careful. That’s my mom.”

Everybody smiles as Jay tosses his arms around both Carlos and Evie’s shoulders. “Let’s get this party started!” he cries.

A cheer goes up as Hayden groans. He knows exactly what that means.

Sure enough, a few hours later Hayden stands on a castle balcony, trying his best to ignore the singing and dancing happening in the room behind him. He leans against the railing, looking out over the water at the Isle of the Lost.

“Within a year,” he says to himself. It’s not so much that he thinks Ben will try to back out on their deal as it is that he’s _sure_ the new king will face some opposition from his own people.

Hayden doesn’t particularly _want_ to have to claim Ben’s soul so early which is exactly what will happen if the deal falls through. He knows that it’s the royal council they’ll have to sway if they want the Isle laws changed.

Hayden smirks and his golden eyes seem to flash.

The royal council won’t know what hit it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand, cut! That's a wrap!  
We're officially done with the first movie and now y'all know kinda where I'm going with my changes to the second one. The royal council won't know what hit it, indeed.  
I'm not sure when the sequel will actually be up but I do have lots of ideas, so, hopefully relatively soon.  
Let me know what you thought and anything specific you might like to see in the sequel!


End file.
